CALGARY – The University of Calgary Dinos had a heartbreaker loss to the McMaster Marauders on the opening day of the Dino Cup on Oct. 17 when they fell 3-2 (25-19, 31-29, 19-25, 13-25, 12-15).
Greg Mann had a game-high 18 kills in the match for the Dinos and added eight digs.
Connor Frehlich had another nine kills for Calgary.
For McMaster, the offence was spread out with five players in double digits in kills including Stephen Maar who had a team-high 15. Jayson McCarthy added 13, Jori Mantha and Tyson Alexander each recorded 12 and Dany Demyanenko scored ten more. Austin Campion-Smith recorded 47 assists in McMaster's win.
The Dinos got off to a hot start in the opening set of the match, forcing McMaster to call their first timeout at 11-7. The Marauders attempted to mount a comeback after the timeout, but to no avail as Calgary held onto their four-point lead at the technical timeout. The Dinos built on their momentum and cruised to the end of the set to win it 25-19.
In the second set, Mann was off to a big start with two aces and a huge back row attack to lead the Dinos. With both teams exchanging leads, the Dinos tied it up at 18 and again at 20. The tight match would take extra points for Calgary to win, but they prevailed 31-29 to go up 2-0 in the match.
The Marauders and the Dinos traded leads early in the third set before McMaster took a 16-14 lead at the technical. From there, they turned on the heat with the Dinos unable to respond. Calgary dropped the third set 25-19.
The fourth set didn't get much better for the Dinos as McMaster really took it to them, first with a three points lead at 4-1, and doubling it to a six point lead at 13-7. Calgary made changes to the lineup as the set went on, but it was no use as the Marauders forced a fifth and deciding set, winning it 25-13.
In the fifth, the Dinos had a slow start, allowing McMaster to take a 6-2 lead. After the switch at 8-4, Calgary clawed it's way back, tying it at eight and again at ten. Despite that, the Marauders were too much to handle on defence, picking up everything that the Dinos threw at them. McMaster went on to win the fifth and final set 15-12, making a huge comeback in the match.
McMaster will take on the Alberta Golden Bears at 5 p.m. tomorrow while the Dinos will face the Trinity Western Spartans at 7 p.m.
