BOX SCORE WINNIPEG – The University of Calgary Dinos women's volleyball team completed the comeback against the University of Manitoba Bisons (18-25, 18-25, 25-22, 25-22, 15-12) Friday night at the Investors Group Athletic Centre in Winnipeg.

Calgary (11-3) came into the match having won three of their last four to start off 2017. Manitoba (6-8) was looking to avoid a third straight loss.

After both teams traded points in the early going, it was the Bisons who reeled off the first extended run of the set, jumping out to a 17-11 on the heels of an 8-3 run. Calgary struggled to gain any momentum as the Dinos hitters failed to find any openings in the Bisons defence. A service error followed by a Dinos attacking error gave Manitoba set point at 24-17, which they finished off a point later on a tip.

The second set started off similarly to the first with neither team grabbing more than a two-point lead up until the Bisons were ahead 15-12. Manitoba, in the midst of an 11-4 run, stretched that into a 22-16 lead and cruised to a second straight 25-18 win. The Dinos attacking woes continued as they only registered seven kills in the set on a -0.049 hitting percentage. 

In the pivotal third set, the Dinos came out flat, falling behind 4-0 forcing an early timeout by Head Coach Natalie Gurnsey. Out of that timeout, Calgary was finally able to string points together, going on a 14-5 run, while taking a four point lead into the technical timeout. The Dinos carried that lead into a 23-18 advantage looking to avoid the sweep. Manitoba did make it interesting late, cutting that lead to just two points, but Jaylynn Moffat finished off the set with her seventh kill of the match. 

The Dinos carried the momentum into the crucial fourth set, jumping out to a 12-9 lead. Kate Pexman's 10th kill of the match took the Dinos into the technical timeout with a 16-12 lead for the second straight set. The Bisons closed the gap to one point, but Moffat finished off a second straight set with a kill, forcing the fifth and deciding set.

In the final set it was the Dinos jumping out to an early 4-1 lead forcing a Manitoba timeout. The Bisons went on a 5-1 run of their own leading Gurnsey to call a timeout of her own. After being knotted up at seven, Calgary grabbed a lead it did not relinquish the rest of the way, with Brianna Solberg capping off the comeback with a kill and a 15-12 win.

After a slow start the Dinos ended up with 53 kills in the match, finishing with a 0.145 attacking percentage. Pexman led the team with 16 kills as well as 21 digs, while Solberg added 12 kills of her own.

With the win Calgary (12-3) has now won four in a row and remains tied for third place in Canada West. Manitoba (6-9) has now dropped three straight. These two teams will be back in action Saturday afternoon. Game time is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. CST at the Investors Group Athletic Centre.

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