EDMONTON – While the No. 7 Calgary Dinos played valiantly down the stretch despite the injury bug plaguing them all season, they ultimately couldn't solve the No. 5 Alberta Pandas, losing in four-sets (25-27, 27-25, 25-19, 25-17) in game two of the best-of-three Canada West quarter-final, Saturday night at the U of A's Main Gym in Edmonton.
BOX SCORE
Senior left side Tiffany Proudfoot had a game-high 16 kills, while third-year setter Jaki Ellis earned a baker's dozen and third-year outside hitter Krista Zubick also cracked the double-digit barrier with 10. Ellis also added 22 assists while outside hitter Alyssa Jones, a third-year as well, had 24.
Lindsay Russell, a sophomore right side from Surrey, BC, notched 13 kills for the Dinos while setter Sarah Lacny tallied a game-high 36 assists.
The Alberta Pandas now move on to the Final Four next weekend, hosted by the top-seeded UBC Thunderbirds, likely facing the second seed Trinity Western Spartans in a one-game Canada West semi-final. The top three Canada West teams will advance to the CIS National Championship at Université Laval in Québec City, QC.
Fulfilling the intensity of the “Battle of Alberta” moniker, neither team relented on their attack in the opening two sets on the evening, keeping the scoreboard relatively even.
Alberta was able to stake out a five-point lead late in the first set, though, but Calgary erased it with Lindsey Doland, last night's kill leader for the Dinos, leading the way to an extended opening-set victory.
The second set featured the reverse, with Calgary claiming a late five-point lead before Ellis notched four kills, six total in the set, to vault the Pandas to the same extended set score of 27-25.
The three-pronged PEZ attack then started to eat away at the Dinos, combining for 13 of Alberta's 15 kills in the third set, with Ellis commandeering a super-charged 80% attack rating to give the Pandas a 2-1 set lead.
A slew of Calgary attack errors helped Alberta to an 11-2 lead in the fourth set and the Dinos were unable to mount a comeback before Ellis ended the Calgary season with a power kill that was too much for Calgary's back row.
The Mississauga, ON native improved upon her game one 42.1% performance by hitting an overall 47.8% attack rating in four sets and has a combined 22 kills and six aces in two games. Teammate Proudfoot leads all Pandas with 25 kills and seven aces on the weekend.
The Pandas move on to the Final Four next weekend to first play a one-game Canada West semi-final where winning guarantees them a trip to nationals.
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