LANGLEY, B.C. – A rocky opening set proved to be the difference in an otherwise tight contest between the University of Calgary Dinos men's volleyball team and the No. 2 Trinity Western Spartans Saturday night in a 3-1 win by TWU from the Langley Events Centre.

Despite the slow start, the Dinos (0-4) responded strongly in winning the second set and going toe-to-toe the rest of the way before falling, 15-25, 25-21, 19-25, 21-25.

Liam Kuppe led the Dinos attack on the night with 11 kills while hitting .381 for the match. Rookie Anders Bouck continued to take his game to the next level, dishing out another career-high 28 assists on the night.

For the Spartans (6-0), Brodie Hofer finished with 26 kills on just 33 swings to lead all players.

After a TWU took the opener in convincing fashion, the Dinos responded emphatically in the second. Knotted up at 11 early, Louis Kunstmann served up back-to-back aces before a block by Kuppe and Jackson Meier for a 4-0 Calgary run. TWU wouldn't quit, drawing back to within one at 20-19, but a kill by Kunstmann and an ace from Erik Godwin gave the Dinos another cushion before Bouck finishing things off with Calgary's sixth ace of the frame to tie things up at 1-1.

The next two frames would go neck-and-neck the whole way, only to see Hofer take over late in both sets. 

In the third, the Dinos trailed 15-13 before Hofer had a run of five kills over eight plays to suddenly give TWU separation that they wouldn't relinquish the rest of the way.

Meanwhile, in the fourth, Calgary led 15-14 before Hofer teamed up for a pair of blocks to help spark another Spartan run before finishing off the match with another kill to end the Dinos comeback effort.

Calgary returns home next weekend in a pair of standalone contests against UBC-Okanagan. Both Friday and Saturday's contests are scheduled for 5 p.m. first serves from the Jack Simpson Gym.

-UC-