CALGARY – Sophia Hansen had a double-double of 17 kills and 14 digs while Dominique Desautels added 16 kills while hitting .379 to lead the University of Calgary Dinos to a thrilling 3-2 win over MacEwan Friday night in the 2025-26 Canada West opener inside the Jack Simpson Gym.

The Dinos women's volleyball team jumped out to a 2-0 lead only to have flip things back in their favour down the stretch for the five-set win, 25-22, 25-21, 20-25, 23-25, 15-13.

"There were lots of highs, and a few lows, but I think it was really good competing through today," Calgary head coach Christine Biggs said. "I think we'll just continue to build on our style of play and celebrate some good performances from some young individuals that got their first U SPORTS game in."

"It's a really great group of student athletes. We're working hard, everyone's contributing in different ways and I think we have a lot of different strengths and lots of different lineups we can use to maximize our roster."

Things started on some unsure footing the early going for the Dinos, with MacEwan jumping out to an 11-6 lead after an ace by Arden Butler. Desautels helped turn things around, however, as Calgary rattled off seven in a row to take a 14-12 lead. The Griffins continued to battle, but the Dinos finished things out on a 5-1 run, with Desautels tallying five kills in the opening-set win.

The second set was more of the same, with both teams rattling off scoring runs to tie things up at 15-all. Following a timeout, the Dinos responded with a 4-0 run with kills from Ashley Ditchfield, Hansen and Anya Fehr for a 19-15 edge and they would lead the rest of the way for the 2-0 lead.

Unshaken, the Griffins continued to show incredible fight. Tied at 16 in the third, this time it was the visitors that used a 4-0 run - sparked by back-to-back aces from Alyshia Bryks - to establish control. Kills from Kara Frith and Anika Buys gave MacEwan its first set of the night and opened the door for a potential comeback.

That momentum carried into the fourth, with the Griffins jumping out to a 10-5 early edge after another ace by Butler. A block by Hansen and Narelle Arnold capped a 6-1 Dinos run to put the home team back on top, 16-15. Calgary held that one-point advantage late, but three straight MacEwan kills - one from Frith before two big swings by Bryks - and suddenly this one was going to a fifth set.

Tied at 5-5, Calgary went on a 7-1 run for a commanding 12-6 lead that forced MacEwan to burn both of its timeouts. The Griffins continued to fight. Facing four match points, Bryks added two more kills and a solo block to her impressive stat line to once again bring the crowd to its feet and close the gap to just one. But Kalyssa Komori finished things off with a kill to send the Dinos home with the win.

"I'm very ecstatic - I love winning a home opener," Desautels said. "I think I'm most excited to grow throughout the season and just see where the season can take us. We're such a new team and I think the sky's the limit."

"I hope we rise to the occasion and just keep getting better every single weekend, and I'm excited to see that growth happen every single weekend."

Further showing just how close Friday's contest was, both teams finished the night with 54 kills. The Dinos had a 13-11 edge in service aces, while MacEwan finished with the slight upper hand in blocks (11-9) and digs (49-48).

The two teams are right back at it Saturday at 4 p.m. from the Jack Simpson Gym.

-UC-