BOX SCORE

CALGARY – Rounding into form with arguably his best game of the season so far, CIS player of the year Graham Vigrass put on an impressive display to give his University of Calgary Dinos a 3-1 win (25-21, 25-15, 15-25, 25-22) over the upstart UBC Okanagan Heat Friday night in the Jack Simpson Gym.

Vigrass posted a season-high 17 kills on the night, adding seven blocks and five digs as the Dinos handed the Heat its sixth consecutive loss, dropping the newest members of Canada West to 3-6 in their inaugural season. Calgary, the defending conference champion, improves to 6-5 with the win.

The Dinos looked impressive in the first two sets, taking the second 25-15, before the Heat turned it up in the third and returned the favour with a 25-15 win of their own. The fourth could have gone either way, but the Dinos emerged on the winning side of the scoreboard.

“It's an issue this team has been dealing with all year – we play really well one set, and then we have a real tough time replicating that same, consistent level of play,” said Dinos head coach Rod Durrant. “It's not about the outcome, it's about sustaining that level of play when we were playing so well in the first two sets. We made too many mistakes in crucial times in the third. We're pleased with the result, and we were able to come back in the fourth and do some better things, but we're still a work in progress.

“Graham had a very good night,” said Durrant. “He's feeling stronger and stronger, and that's the best that he's played all semester.”

The second set was about as lopsided as it gets in Calgary's favour, with the Dinos recording 15 kills and hitting at 48 per cent while UBC O struggled to a -3.4 per cent efficiency with eight kills and nine errors. But the pendulum swung decisively the other way in the third, with the Dinos managing just five kills along with nine errors while the Heat went 11 and one. Greg Niemantsverdriet and Jon Russo each had eight kills on the night, and four apiece came in the third set. Vigrass was the only Dino in positive territory in that frame, pounding two kills against just one error.

But the Dinos were able to come back after UBC O took a 10-7 lead in the fourth set. It went back and forth, with the Heat holding a 20-18 lead as well, but the Dinos ended the night on a 7-2 run capped off by Allen Meek's 14th kill of the evening.

Vigrass and Meek were the only Dinos in double digits with kills, together accounting for nearly a third of Calgary's offensive production. Chris Hoag added six to go with nine big digs, while Andrew Visser added 11.

Nate Speijer was the Heat's top offensive player, scoring 15 kills to lead all UBC O players. Russo and Niemantsverdriet added their eight each, while Riley McFarland and Mark Broome trailed well back of that total with three kills each.

The Dinos and Heat wrap up the pre-Christmas portion of the 2011-12 Canada West season Saturday night in the rematch, with first serve slated for 8 p.m. MT in the Jack. The match will be broadcast on CanadaWest.tv.

-UC-