WINNIPEG – The University of Calgary Dinos opened up the 2015-16 Canada West regular season with a 3-1 victory over the University of Winnipeg Wesmen Saturday at the Dr. David F. Anderson Gymnasium in Winnipeg.
Calgary and Winnipeg did not give each other much breathing room in the opening set as both teams were tied on 14 occasions. The Dinos went into the technical break with a 16-15 lead but the hometown Wesmen fought back on a pair of kills by Tia Boroski to take a 19-17 lead late in the set. The Dinos reeled off four of the next five points to lead 21-20 but Winnipeg charged back. Ozana Nikolic had four kills down the stretch to lead Winnipeg to a 25-23 set one win.
Winnipeg carried their momentum into the second set and held a 16-11 lead at the technical break. Calgary roared back soon after going on a 5-0 run to cut the Wesmen lead to 17-16. The teams battled to 22-22 when Calgary on kills by
Brianna Solberg and
Beth Vinnell went on to win the set 25-22 to square the match.
In the third set Calgary took their turn leading at the technical break by a margin of 16-13. The Dinos looked to have the third set in their hands leading 24-20 but a energetic 4-0 run by the Wesmen tied the score at 24-24. Calgary regrouped and kills by
Laura McManes and
Jillian Lazic gave the Dinos the third set by a 26-24 score.
The fourth set was one for the ages. After Calgary led 16-13 at the technical timeout, Winnipeg went on a run to take a 24-20 lead and were on the verge of forcing a fifth set. But a 5-0 Dinos run put them ahead 25-24. Winnipeg erased multiple Calgary match points and extended the set to 32-32. But Winnipeg's fortune did not last any further as a kill by
Rachel Solecki followed by a Winnipeg attacking error gave the Dinos the fourth set 34-32 and the match 3-1.
Second year middle
Beth Vinnell led Calgary with 18 kills and five blocks. Third year outside
Laura McManes had 12 kills and four blocks.
Fourth year left side Ozana Nikolic led the Wesmen with a match high 21 kills. Tia Boroski was next with 13.
The two teams will wrap up their weekend series Sunday afternoon at 12 p.m. MT.
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