CALGARY - The University of Calgary Dinos clinched playoffs on Saturday night when they defeated the UBC Thunderbirds 3-1 (25-21, 25-14, 19-25, 26-24) and completed the sweep at Jack Simpson Gymnasium.
The Dinos finish the regular season with a 14-10 record and a guaranteed post-season appearance. Matches that take place next weekend will determine whether the Dinos will continue their season on the road, or in the Jack. UBC now has a .500 record at 11-11 and currently sit in the final playoff spot with one weekend left of play. Head coach Natalie Gurnsey stressed how important the two wins over UBC.
"We've been pretty good all year, but to me this weekend was an even better version of the Dinos and who we are. We just brought it to another level of focus and commitment to game plan and working as a team. That to me is the significance of the sweep this weekend."
For the Dinos, Ali Woolley scored a team-high 17 kills and recorded seven digs in the win. Three other Dinos hit double digits in kills including Kate Pexman (13), Beth Vinnell (12), and Jaylynn Moffatt (10). In their final games of the regular season, Amber Brown recorded a game-high 15 digs and Jordhynn Guy recorded 42 assists.
"Ali has been solid all weekend and last night we didn't have to use her as much offensively and we knew we'd have to tonight and when she swings and she's aggressive, she's a really hard hitter to hold in," said Gurnsey "I'm so proud of her for doing that against a good team like UBC. And it wasn't just offensively, she blocked and played wicked defence for us too."
The Thunderbirds were led by Rosie Schlagintweit who had a game-high 18 kills and team-high 13 digs in the match. Danielle Brisebois added 16 kills while libero Juliana Kaufmanis recorded nine digs.
The first two sets of the match were played confidently by the Dinos, with an evenly spread offence. A lack of energy from the Thunderbirds allowed Calgary to take advantage on all aspects of the game.
Up 2-0, the Dinos and Thunderbirds battled it out in the third. The visitors took a one-point lead at the technical timeout, but following that a shift began to set in for the match. With Kelsey Clarke subbed in for Alessandra Gentile at setter, the Thunderbirds settled into a new pace of game and it picked up on both offence and defence, in part thanks to Brisebois. They took the third set 25-19.
The fourth set saw the Thunderbirds take up to an eight point lead at 19-11 with Calgary's energy and offence lacking once again. The Dinos began to build their comeback with the likes of Woolley, who got the team fired up on the court. A number of substitutions by Gurnsey also helped the matter, getting setter Erika Myhre on the court as well as Jillian Lazic and Brianna Solberg. An ace from Laura McManes finally tied up the game at 24, the first tie of the match, and it was two massive kills from Woolley that solidified the emotional comeback for the Dinos.
"You could see there was a shift in the third," said Gurnsey. "The setter switch changed the tempo for UBC and we started to roll shot and get passive in our offence and you just can't do that against a team as good as UBC. That got us in some trouble and you could tell the energy started to dip and our tempo wasn't there with our middle attack. Bringing in the fresh bodies was actually what changed the tempo for us."
The Thunderbirds host the Regina Cougars next weekend, while the Dinos take the weekend off before embarking in the post season.
