EDMONTON – The University of Calgary Dinos saw their season come to an end Saturday with a 3-1 (25-19, 18-25, 25-21, 25-16) setback to the University of Toronto Varsity Blues in the consolation semifinal at the U SPORTS Women's Volleyball Championship at the Saville Community Sports Centre.
With a much more consistent effort than their Friday night quarter-final loss, the Dinos showed all kinds of promise at moments in the match and hit a very efficient .250 on the night, led by a sparkling performance from middle
Beth Vinnell. The Dinos' player of the match recorded 12 kills without a single error on 22 attempts for a .545 hitting percentage, adding a trio of blocks – but it wasn't enough as the Blues prevailed late in the third and fourth sets to advance to Sunday's consolation final, where they will take on the top-seeded Trinity Western Spartans.
"I was much prouder of our performance tonight," said Dinos head coach
Natalie Gurnsey following the match. "We brought a full performance, everyone was working together, and I can be more proud tonight. Of course it's not the result that we want, but I felt like we played way better together as a group than last night."
After dropping the opening set 25-19, the Dinos came roaring back to take the second 25-18. Trailing 17-10 in the third, the Dinos were able to come back to tie it at 18-18. But a 7-3 Toronto run at the end made it 25-21 in favour of the Ontario champions, and they carried that momentum into the fourth with a 25-16 win.
"We started to serve way more aggressively in the second, and that completely changed the momentum," explained Gurnsey. "It got Toronto out of system more, which allowed us to set up our block, and our setter Lexi (Peart) did a good job of moving the ball to the right side of the court, which was key for us, and we were swinging one on one. We got a little bit unfocused in the third in doing that job and doing our job serving, and it allowed Toronto to come back."
In addition to Vinnell's 12 kills,
Kenzie Vaandering added nine and
Adriel Goodman picked up eight. Libero
Kennedy Snape added 17 digs, with
Rachel Solecki picking up 14, and the Dinos were particularly dominant at the net, recording nine blocks to the Varsity Blues' four.
Toronto was led by Alina Dormann's 20-kill performance, while Jenna wood added 12.
It was the final U SPORTS game for fifth-year Dinos setter
Leah Shevkenek, who wraps up her career as the all-time Canada West assists leader.
The Dinos now head into the off-season and will return to the court in September, with the program set to host the 2020 U SPORTS Women's Volleyball Championship next March in the Jack Simpson Gym.
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