CALGARY – The University of Calgary Dinos men's volleyball team improved to 11-5 after defeating the University of Alberta Golden Bears (13-3) by a 3-1 score (27-29, 25-23, 25-23, 25-22) on Saturday evening at the Jack Simpson Gym.

Calgary completed the weekend sweep of inter-provincial rival Alberta as they honoured their graduating players, Hamish Hazelden, Jacob Reid, Parker Siroishka, Tomas Sorra and Taylor Tracey on senior night. 

This marks just the first time all season the Bears have dropped back-to-back games. 

Tomas Sorra, who finished the game with 40 assists, two kills and five blocks, talked about what the wins this weekend mean for Calgary as they prepare for the playoffs.

"It's good for team morale," Sorra said. "We treated these games and the weekend as a whole like the playoffs. We're going to go into the playoffs two weeks from now and take the same mentality that we took into this weekend."

The Dinos burst out to an early 7-2 lead in the opening frame, but Alberta was able to slowly chip away. The Bears claimed their first lead after a big block by Cam Kern and Jordan Canham made it 23-22 late. The battle continued into extras where Alberta finally was able create the separation after a kill from Isaac Heslinga and another Bears block to take the opener.

The second set saw the Dinos jump out to another early lead. Lincoln Baines was all over the court, contributing to three of the Dinos first seven points in the frame. With solid team play, Alberta was able to cut the lead down to one, as Calgary led 16-15 heading into the technical timeout. Down the stretch, the Dinos rode the hot had of substitute Erik Godwin – who had two clutch kills to close out the second and even the match up at 1-1.

The third set featured a number of significant runs by each squad. The Bears started off the set with a 7-3 lead, only to see Calgary respond with a 5-0 run to take the lead. Alberta instantly responded with a 6-0 rally of their own to go back up 13-8. Alberta maintained that lead until late when the Dinos got hot and couldn't be stopped, flipping a 23-21 deficit into a 25-23 win, headlined by a key ace from Jackson Meier.

In the fourth, it was Meier once again who came up big for Calgary. With the Dinos up 23-22, Meier used his length to suffocate the attack of Jordan Canham. Hamish Hazelden, who led all players with 21 kills once again delivered the finishing blow off an assist from Sorra. 

After the game, Sorra – who will be graduating this year – reminisced about his final home games as a Dino. 

"Definitely a lot of emotion, it's been all positive though," Sorra said. "We had a really fun time coming into this weekend. when we were able to put it all on the floor. We just gave it all of our heart and all of our effort. I'm really happy we got the two wins…I'm excited to see where I can go in the future, but I've really enjoyed my time as a Dino." 

The Dinos will hit the road next weekend as they will play their final regular season games, taking on the MacEwan Griffins in Edmonton. Alberta will look to get back in the win column as they close out their regular season at home against the MRU Cougars.