CALGARY - The University of Calgary men's volleyball team suffered a tough loss against rivals MRU (23-25, 21-25, 24-26) Saturday night at Kenyon Court.
 
After falling at home Thursday, the Dinos looked to regroup in enemy territory. The Dinos came out swinging, jumping out to an early 9-4 lead, forcing MRU to call a timeout. This had little impact as Calgary stretched the margin further to 11-4 on a service ace by Sean Martin. The Dinos appeared to be cruising to a first set victory, but a Cougars 8-2 run tied it up at 19 points apiece. Both teams traded points before MRU was able to close out the match with three straight points. Calgary finished the set with an impressive 0.32 hitting percentage but MRU managed an even more efficient attack, ending with a 0.412 percentage.
 
The second set started out as a back and forth affair, with neither team going on any extended runs early on. Both teams continued to attack with extreme efficiency, with the Dinos hitting at a 0.423 clip and MRU improving to 0.536. The Cougars managed to gain a little breathing room halfway through the set, opening up a five-point lead heading into the technical timeout. The Dinos worked their way to within one at 16-17, but that was as close as they got, dropping the second set 21-25.
 
Similar to the first set, Calgary grabbed an early lead in the third, looking to extend the match. However, the Cougars were able to keep the Dinos within their sights, never letting the set get out of hand. After being down four early, MRU tied things up at 14 aside. Each team exchanged points the rest of the way, with the Dinos finding themselves in position to win, leading 23-21. The Cougars then reeled off three straight points to set up match point. The Dinos managed to extend the game momentarily but then a service error followed by an attacking error by Curtis Stockton ended the game giving MRU the straight sets win.
 
The Dinos finished the game hitting 0.314 on 40 kills, with Stockton recording 18 of those himself, while hitting 0.385. Alex Bader was the next highest Dino, logging nine kills, checking in at a 0.333 hitting percentage.
 
Head Coach Rod Durrant acknowledged the tough loss, but recognized that games like this can go either way. "Obviously not what we wanted with that first set, but I thought the guys tried their best to rebound back and compete. We were able to do that but couldn't finish it off. Same thing with the third set, we were in a good position to capitalize on a couple of key points, but when you don't capitalize you give the other team momentum and end up losing. That's what happened to us tonight."
 
With the loss the Dinos early season struggles continue as their record falls to 2-6. They will head out on the road, playing UBC-Okanagan next weekend in their final games before the Christmas break. Game times are 9 p.m. Friday and 8 p.m. Saturday MST.