CALGARY - The University of Calgary Dinos women's volleyball team kept their winning streak alive Saturday evening, beating crosstown rivals MRU in four sets (27-25, 22-25, 25-20, 25-15) at Kenyon Court.
 
Looking to build on a solid win at home Thursday night, the Dinos got off to a slow start Saturday quickly falling behind the Cougars 5-0, forcing head coach Natalie Gurnsey to take an early timeout. Calgary finally got their first points of the match on a kill by Laura McManes, picking the open back corner. The Dinos clawed their way back from the deficit, tying up the set at 12 and taking their first lead on a kill by Jillian Lazic heading into the technical timeout. Both teams traded points the rest of the way with the Dinos looking to close out the set after a Jaylynn Moffat kill gave them set point at 24-22. The Cougars did not concede however, rallying off three straight points to give themselves a set point at 25-24. Calgary scored three points of their own to take the first set, finished off by a block by Lazic and Kate Pexman.
 
The Dinos were forced to play from behind again in the second set. Calgary tied it up at 16, but MRU was able to pull away late, building a 24-21 lead. The Dinos avoided one set point, but a service error by Moffat snuffed out any sort of rally, giving the Cougars the second set win.
 
Following the slow starts in the first two sets, Calgary came out much stronger in the next two. Supported by solid blocking, the Dinos never trailed in the next two sets after a 4-4 tie in the third set, cruising to 25-20 and 25-15 set wins. With the lead the Dinos quieted the raucous crowd at Kenyon Court and played in control the rest of the way.
 
The Dinos finished the match with 52 kills, led by Pexman's 21, rounded out by Moffat and McManes, each with 10 apiece. Setter Leah Shevkenek also had a strong game with 41 assists and a match high of five service aces.
 
Calgary stretched their win streak to seven, improving their record to 7-1 in the young season. The Dinos head out on the road next weekend for their last games before Christmas Break, playing a weekend series against UBC-Okanagon. Friday night's game is slated to start at 7 p.m. MST, with Saturday's game starting at 6 p.m