EDMONTON — Opening with a 25-9 whitewash in the opening set, the sixth-ranked University of Calgary Dinos cruised to a straight-sets victory over the MacEwan Griffins Saturday night (25-9, 25-17, 25-19) to improve to 11-3 on the season.
The Griffins got behind early and were never in the opening set as the Dinos cruised to a huge 16-point win in the opening set.
Although MacEwan found its footing for the first part of the second set, they conceded a devastating 11-1 run as Calgary fought back from down 16-14 at the technical timeout to win 25-17.
On the other side of the court, the Dinos were clicking at a higher rate than Friday when they ran into a bit of trouble against MacEwan before closing out a 3-1 win.
"Our setter did a very good job of executing our game plan offensively," noted Calgary head coach
Natalie Gurnsey of
Leah Shevkenek, who upped her level by a longshot over Friday when she was pulled mid-match. "So it got us more one on ones and it definitely prevented MacEwan from getting on those big defensive runs they did on us last night.
"It just opened up so many more opportunities for us to kill the ball."
Aided by Shevkenek's game-high 25 assists, star outside hitter
Kate Pexman recorded 14 kills, tops among all players on the court.
Laura McManes chipped in nine.
The Griffins had no one in double digits in kills, with Cassidy Kinsella leading the way with nine, well below her usual output.
With MacEwan's attack failing in the third set, Briggs switched setters, inserting rookie Mackenzie Oshanek-Gladue in place of starter Claire McLoughlin.
With the defeat, the Griffins now sit 3-11 on the Canada West campaign, while the Dinos, off the strength of the weekend sweep, move to 11-3.
"It does help us for positioning for the playoffs, but more than that to build our confidence as a team," said Gurnsey. "Each game we play is an opportunity for us to gel a little bit better and solidify roles, and really be confident as we build momentum into playoffs. This is just another step in that direction."
Next up for the Dinos is a visit to Manitoba on Jan. 20-21 before returning home to face UBC a week later.
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