BOX SCORE CALGARY – But for a lull in the opening set, it could have been a quicker night – but as it stood, the unranked University of Calgary Dinos managed to upend the No. 2 University of Alberta Pandas Friday night with a 3-1 win (25-27, 25-20, 25-22, 25-22) in the Jack Simpson Gym.

The win improves Calgary's record to 7-6 on the season, while Alberta drops just its third match of the campaign and falls to 10-3. It snapped a five-match losing skid for the Dinos against the Pandas and marked the seventh time this season that the two teams have met each other – but all those other matches were of the non-conference variety, while this one counts in the standings.

A trio of fifth-year outside hitters combined for 45 of Calgary's 56 kills on the night, with Andrea Price's 16 leading the way followed by 15 from Lindsey Doland and 14 by Sarah Moncks in what Dinos head coach Natalie Schwartz called the team's best match of the year.

“That was the most complete match that we've played, and it feels good,” said sophomore bench boss Schwartz. “We were prepared going in, but the girls fully and completely executed the game plan. I'm really proud of them, and I hope we can build on that.”

After taking a 20-15 lead in the first set, the Dinos had their lone lapse of the evening as the Pandas stormed back and ended the set on a 12-5 run, taking the opener 27-25. But from there, the Dinos never let the higher-ranked squad opposite get any breathing room. They led wire-to-wire en route to a 25-20 win in the third, then were able to close out both the third and fourth sets by identical 25-22 scores after trailing 16-15 at the technical time out in both frames.

Alberta was led by a monster night by Krista Zubick, who put down 15 kills and popped up 16 digs – both team highs. Alyssa Jones added 14 kills while Kacey Otto (11) and Jaki Ellis (10) also reached double digits. Defensively, Ellis added 10 kills for the Pandas.

Courtney Dawson added nine kills on the night for the Dinos, including a couple of key points in the final stages of the fourth set to close it out. Moncks and Price also contributed defensively for the Dinos with 12 and 11 digs apiece, but it was setter Jordhynn Guy who added a team-high 13 digs to her 44 assists and five blocks on the evening.

“Jordhynn getting involved defensively was huge,” said Schwartz, herself a former All-Canadian setter. “Setters have so much on their mind that sometimes defence is an afterthought. We've been working with her this year to understand how important it is for her to be involved, and it takes her mind off of setting for a little while. I'm so happy that she stepped up and contributed possibly 13 points for us tonight, just by going to get the ball.”

Calgary held the edge in hitting percentage at 22.6 against 19.5, while the Dinos doubled up in blocks with 12 against the Pandas' six.

The old rivals do battle once more Saturday night in the Jack, with first serve slated for 5 p.m. MT live on http://cgy.canadawest.tv.

-UC-