BOX SCORE REGINA - The University of Regina's men's volleyball team was defeated in four sets on Saturday night by the Calgary Dinos, who took their second win in as many nights over the Cougars to secure a weekend split in Canada West action.
Connor Frehlich led Calgary (4-2) with 19 kills, while Regina's top hitter was Andrew Nelson as the third-year outside hitter led all players with 20.
The first two sets went Calgary's way. The Dinos scored three consecutive points late in the opening set - two of which were on Connor Frehlich kills - to take a 23-19 lead, then finished it off with back-to-back Greg Mann kills to claim a 25-21 win. In the second set, the Cougars led all the way through the media timeout until rookie Keith West's turn to serve came up. When it was all said and done, West had served seven straight times and the Dinos turned what had been a 17-14 deficit into a 21-17 advantage. The Cougars responded with five of the next six points to tie the game up at 22-22, but three straight Calgary points capped by a Frechlich kill gave the visitors a 25-22 win.
That cued up a wild third set in which the two teams were never separated by more than two points until the Cougars went on a 4-1 run to take a 24-21 lead. Calgary fought off the three set points and the two squads went back and forth until a big block by Rhodri Simmonds gave the Cougars a 30-28 win. When it was all said and done, the set featured 22 tie scores and five lead changes.
Calgary clinched the match with four straight points at the end of the fourth, ending up with a 25-19 win in the final set.
Frehlich only had six errors on 39 attacks, while Ivan Kartev had 11 kills and just one error on 14 attacks to end up with a blistering .714 hitting percentage and added a match-leading 10 blocks to score a double-double. Alex Cook took over at setter midway through the second set and had 36 assists in three sets played, while Greg Mann had 12 kills and 14 digs to record Calgary's other double-double.
Simmonds had 12 kills and six blocks for the Cougars, while libero Jacques Borgeaud had a team-high 11 digs and setter Caleb Eschbach collected 43 assists and 10 digs for a double-double.
Both teams will play in Calgary next weekend, as the Dinos host Trinity Western and the Cougars will make the trip west to play at Mount Royal.
