CALGARY - The Dinos Men's Volleyball team's season is 3 and 0 after finishing 3-1 against the Brandon University Bobcats in their home-opener game on Friday night.
Dinos' Curtis Stockton led the team and game in attacks with 18 of their 55, followed closely by Bobcat's Roy Ching with 15 of 45. Setter Jackson Maris would lead for assists with 41, and Bobcat's David Stasica close second with 34. The Bobcats would only lead in dig's at 54:51.
"We've got a lot of options right now and our passing is going really well, so we''re creating opportunities for ourselves, and that's something in the past that we've been lacking," said Stockton.
"Everybody helps everyone else do their job, so it's awesome to be a part of that right now."
An early trail in the first set meant the Dinos had to play catch-up. Keith West got a huge ace to get them to their fifth point, but they were still a solid six points behind. It was teammate Connor Frehlich's four-serves that would tie the game for the first time 13-13.
They managed to snag their first lead of the game at the 15-point mark off Jackson Maris and Ivan Kartev's big block; followed by another huge ace from West brought it 20-18.
To the detriment of the Dinos they wouldn't be able to maintain the momentum and would fall 25-23 at the paws of the Bobcats.
The second was a teeter-totter as both team went back-and-forth in points; no team could pull a strong lead over the other. It wasn't until a huge kill by Stockton, followed by yet another ace from West, that the Dinos finally got a gap in the score and led by five points at the technical time-out.
Kartev's kill, paired with a huge hit from Stockton, would get them the two points they needed to finish out the second with a 25-17 win.
The third set saw an array of kills by Stockton and Frehlich, both accumulating six and five kills respectively. But much like the first two sets before it, the third was neck-and-neck until the Dinos barely pulled way and ended it 25-23, pushing it to a fourth set.
"A couple of silly errors here and there that kind of shook us a bit," said Stockton. "But we finally got comfortable with each other again and we were able to stay as a group in the second, third and fourth set."
Finally finding their rhythm late in the game, the Dinos led in the beginning of the fourth.
Despite the lead, they had to earn each and every point through some of the toughest rallies of the game.
It looked like the Bobcats would make a comeback and push it to the fifth when Bobcats #3 Joel Makara subbed in and snagged two points off a serve, but it would also be off the hand of Makara where the Dinos would snag their final point after he tried to keep the ball in play off a hit, but would push it too far out of bounds to recover.
The Dinos would finish the game 3-1, and snag a victory in their first game at home.
"It's awesome. The crowd brought lots of energy and we just had a good time out there," said Frehlich, adding the team solidified any and all passes and it helped them offensively take the lead, and eventually the win.s
"We were aggressive and we worked hard and it works out for us."
The Dinos take on the Bobcats again on Saturday, October 24, in their second game of a double-header weekend at home.
