BOX SCORE CALGARY – Solid play at the net, led by 12.5 team blocks, led the University of Calgary Dinos to a 3-0 (25-21, 25-22, 25-20) win over the Brandon Bobcats Saturday night in Canada West men's volleyball action on Enterprise Seniors' Night in the Jack Simpson Gym.

The win on the final night of the season guarantees Calgary (11-11) a postseason berth, a year after missing the playoffs. Finishing sixth, Calgary will head to Edmonton to face the Alberta Golden Bears in a best-of-three Canada West quarterfinal series next weekend, with the winner advancing to the conference Final Four at Trinity Western University in Langley, B.C. Brandon (10-12), meanwhile, earns the tiebreaker over Mount Royal for the seventh and final playoff spot and will visit UBC for a quarterfinal series next week.

In their final game in the Jack Simpson Gym before their national quarterfinal on Thursday, Feb. 27 when they kick off the 2014 CIS Men's Volleyball Championship at home, the Dinos put together a complete performance led by middle Sean Tuff. Not only was Tuff in on seven of Calgary's 12.5 blocks on the night, but he added nine kills and a 66.7 per cent attack efficiency on the night as the Dinos executed crisply throughout the match, avenging a straight-sets loss to the Bobcats on Friday night.

"This group has worked really hard the last two years," said Calgary head coach Rod Durrant. "They knew what was at stake, and this is arguably one of the best matches this team has played together against a very solid Brandon team. To play that way and to get the result is extremely rewarding."

The Dinos recognized their six graduating seniors before the match, with Andrew Visser, Greg Mann, Will Young, Darcee Froese, Travis Banks, and Anton Louden receiving the honours before warm-up, presented by Enterprise Rent-A-Car. The festivities seemed to fire up the Dinos, with Mann pounding down a kill from the right side on the first point of the match to set the tone. Calgary led wire-to-wire in the opening set with a block and corresponding fist pump by Connor Frehlich wrapping it up 25-21 for the home side.

The second set was far closer, with 12 tie scores in the frame. The Bobcats led as late as 19-16 in the set, but Calgary put up four points in a row, then scored the last three straight with a Mann kill wrapping it up 25-22 for the Dinos.

The third was close early, but in the high single digits the Dinos began to pull away and never looked back. Brandon managed to get within two points at 19-17, but Calgary poured it on late and took it 25-20 to book their ticket to Edmonton.

Mann finished the night with 14 kills, followed by Tuff's nine while Visser and Frehlich added seven each. Setter Jackson Maris had 34 assists for the Dinos, but he got in on the block party in a big way as well with a pair of solos along with four helpers. Mann was the match's leader with 11 digs, while Visser added eight more.

Though Brandon finished with more kills (47) than the Dinos (42), the Bobcats' hitting percentage was considerably lower at just under 24 per cent compared to better than 36 for Calgary. The visitors committed 21 errors against just nine for the Dinos. Sebastien Steigmeier led the match with 19 kills on 41 swings on the night, while Sam Tuivai's 13 represented the only other Bobcat in double digits.

Though already assured of a spot at the national championship as the tournament host, the Dinos didn't want a three-week break during the conference playoffs before playing a CIS quarterfinal – and they won't get one.

"We want to continue to get better and continue to play good teams, and that's what we have given ourselves for next week," said Durrant. "That's how we will approach it. We can still improve on some areas, and the guys want to be together and want to keep playing the game. They earned that tonight."

The Dinos split their season series with the Golden Bears, falling 3-0 before rallying for a big 3-2 win the following night. Both games were played at the Saville Community Sports Centre in Edmonton.

The 2014 CIS Men's Volleyball Championship runs Feb. 27-March 1 in the Jack Simpson Gym.

-UC-