CALGARY - In a heartbreaking loss, the Dinos were eliminated from the Canada West quarterfinal by the Trinity Western Spartans. Last night, the Spartans saved themselves from losing the series and they carried their momentum into tonight to get the strong 3-1 win (21-25, 25-20, 21-25, 20-25) in the Jack. The Dinos and Spartans both played evenly matched sets throughout the game. The Spartans were able to edge out the Dinos by capitalizing on their errors and scoring key kills and aces. The Dinos' level of intensity elevated them on the scoreboard as they won the second set but they could not finish in the rest of the sets. Once the Spartans gained a lead of more than 5 points, the Dinos struggled to keep things close.
In the fourth set, Calgary took a timeout after a series of errors by the Dinos and a kill by Spartans' Blake Scheerhoorn to make the score 20-15. Although the Dinos fought hard, they could not claw back into the game as the Spartans were poised to keep the score out of reach until the end.
Statistically, the Dinos won the kills contest 49-44, the assist contest 44-37, and the dig contest 55-43. They suffered, however, in attack errors as they had 30 errors on the Spartans' 18. Dinos Keith West and Curtis Stockton were the top scorers with 29 kills but also combined for 20 errors. The top scorers for the Spartans were Blake Scheerhoorn and Ryan Sclater who put their team in the lead with 30 combined kills. Head coach Rod Durrant was proud of the growth and progress of his team this year. "We had a great season. Our guys left everything out there today. I'm really proud of the way we played. I thought we were right there and had every opportunity. We just unfortunately didn't have what it took to finish it" he said. "I'm really proud of the 4th and 5th year guys. They had a heck of a year…they deserve all the credit. They led this team to where it was this weekend and I'm extremely proud of them" After a solid season, the Dinos are now eliminated from the playoffs as the Spartans advance to the next round.
