CALGARY – The No. 7 University of Calgary Dinos looked to stay in the playoff series race and tie the series at one-a-piece Saturday evening against the No. 10 University of British Columbia Thunderbirds. The Thunderbirds took the match in four however (35-33, 18-25, 25-23, 25-18) taking the playoff series 2-0, on Feb. 14th at the Jack Simpson Gym.
The Thunderbirds came into the match with a 1-0 lead in the best of three playoff series looking to finish things up Saturday evening.
"I don't know if you can get a series or match that close," said head coach Natalie Gurnsey. "Every set was within two points that we lost. We battled against a really good UBC team."
Calgary's leading scorers of the night were Kate Pexman, Jaylynn Moffatt and Beth Vinnell, Pexman had 15 kills on the night while both Moffatt and Vinnell had ten. Setter Jordhynn Guy lead both teams once again with 41 assists.
The Dinos end their playoff run and season with a 14-12 record while the Thunderbirds improve to 15-11.
In what looked like a repeat of last night's first set it was a point marathon. At the technical timeout the Thunderbirds lead the Dinos by one point, 16-15 due to several unforced errors from the Dinos. The Dinos kept it close sending it to extra points but it would be the Thunderbirds who prevailed taking the first set 35-33.
"Last night was nerves, tonight was hesitation when your back is against the wall," explained Gurnsey. "We were just a little to focused on the outcome of the match."
Calgary took their frustration from dropping the first set out in the second set on UBC. Calgary played a strong offensive set finding holes on the court, UBC were the ones with some unforced errors on serving in this set. Calgary lead UBC 16-12 at the technical timeout and ran with it from there, downing UBC 25-18, to tie the sets at one-a-piece.
The Thunderbirds rallied in the third set after being down at the technical timeout 16-11. Both teams battled hard for each point keep it tight till the Thunderbirds took the last two points and won the set 25-23, looking to close out the match in the fourth set being up 2-1 in sets.
While the Thunderbirds looked to seal their fate in heading to the Canada West Semi-Finals the Dinos were looking to tie the sets up and force a fifth set. The Thunderbirds trailed the Dinos at the technical timeout, 16-15. The Thunderbirds looking to finish things in the fourth turned things around at the technical and took the fourth set, 25-18.
The Thunderbirds move onto the Final Four Canada West Semi-Final next weekend, Feb 20-22 in Edmonton where the University of Alberta Pandas will host.
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