CALGARY – Despite strong rallying efforts in a nail-biting third set, the University of Calgary Dinos were unsuccessful in capturing their first victory of the season, defeated by the MacEwan University Griffins (25-17, 25-16, 29-27) in the Jack Simpson Gym Friday evening.
Veteran Griffins topped the scoreboard Friday as Lauren Holmes wrapped up the evening with 14 kills and McKenna Stevenson finished with 13. On the Dinos end,
Marina Culo,
Autumn Davidson and
Trinity Solecki were threefold, finishing with six kills apiece.
The service line proved to be instrumental for the Griffins in the first set, as Calgary dug themselves into a hole on serve receive. Consequently, the Dinos struggled to generate viable offence, allowing the Griffins to roll through for a 25-17 set victory.
In the second set, the Dinos were unable to pin down their momentum due to five crucial service errors. Griffins senior setter Kylie Schubert pushed a rapid tempo throughout the match, her efforts reflected in 40 assists. Unable to capitalize on offence when it mattered, Calgary registered a team hitting percentage of .172, obtaining 27 kills compared to .300 and 46 for MacEwan.
Despite falling two points short of victory, the Dinos squad came alive in set three, arguably putting on their best performance of the season. Right from the first serve, the team's communication, energy and hustle was contagious, often bringing the crowd to their feet.
Kennedy Snape was phenomenal on defence, fighting for every point despite extremely long rallies, earning her a match-high 13 digs.
Head coach
Natalie Gurnsey looks to this third set as a small glimpse of the Dinos' true potential:
"It took us two full sets to really start playing," Gurnsey said. "Obviously serve receive was a really big issue for us – MacEwan was just bombing serves at us. In the third set, we finally settled and played how we should, we began to pass and generate some offence and things became a little bit simpler. I was really proud of how we fought in the third set and put ourselves in a position to win. We have to continue to put ourselves in those situations where we have a chance, and not just trying to dig ourselves out of a hole."
The Dinos look to carry their set three energy onto tomorrow's rematch against the Griffins at 4 p.m. in the Jack Simpson Gym.
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