CALGARY - The No. 3 University of Calgary Dinos men's volleyball team recorded their second sweep of the season when they defeated the Brandon Bobcats 3-0 (25-23, 25-23, 26-24).
The straight sets win keeps the Dinos undefeated through the first two weekends of Canada West volleyball while the Bobcats drop to 1-3.
"We knew Brandon was going to come out and play very well," said Dinos head coach
Rod Durrant. "They are a good defensive team. We had to make sure we stayed patient. They put a lot of pressure on us on the serve."
Third-year
Keith West led the way for the Dinos with a team-high 10 kills and seven digs on the night.
Curtis Stockton added nine kills while libero
Derek Meeuwisse added a game-high ten digs. Setter
Alex Cook recorded 28 assists.
For the visiting Bobcats, Roy Ching was the only one to hit double digits with a game-high 14 kills. Setter David Stasica added 24 assists and seven digs while libero Jeremy Davies recorded ten digs.
"I thought our serve receive was way better last night which allowed our setter to isolate a little bit more. Our hitters did a really good job of adjusting. At the end of the day, it was three straight, but it was also a two-point game in every set."
The Dinos got off to a slow start to begin the match, going down 6-2 and not able to catch up until the technical timeout where they took their first lead of the game at 16-15. Finally tying the game up at 19 and against at 21, the Dinos had to claw their way to the first set win of 25-23.
Another close set quickly followed with some big kills from West to keep the Dinos in it. Once again, it wasn't until the final points that the Dinos were able to pull off the win and go ahead 2-0.
In the third, Calgary found themselves down 16-10 at the technical with Brandon putting pressure on the Dinos' serve receive. Down 20-17 thanks to some great defence from the Bobcats, Durrant was forced to call a timeout to rally the troops. The turning point of the set didn't come until both teams were all tied up at 21. Brandon's setter Stasica dove for a ball into the stands and injured his shoulder. With time to regroup, the Dinos went on to win the set, and the match with extra points at 26-24.
The sweep keeps the Dinos atop the Canada West standings and they will head out on the road to face Thompson Rivers next weekend. Brandon takes on the Regina Cougars.