VANCOUVER – The University of Calgary Dinos women's volleyball team won a marathon opening set but couldn't hold the momentum, dropping a 3-1 (28-26, 19-25, 17-25, 20-25) loss to the UBC Thunderbirds in their Canada West season opener Friday night at War Memorial Gym.
The result leaves Calgary at 0-1, while UBC opens its season at 1-0.
A pair of newcomers stood tall for Calgary. Rookie
Julia Tuckwood led the Dinos with 12 kills in her Canada West regular-season debut. Fifth-year
Christine Abu, a transfer from Queen's, made an immediate impact in her first match with Calgary, adding seven kills, an ace, and four block assists, and scoring some of the biggest points of the opening set.
Setter
Anya Fehr ran the offence with 29 assists, while libero
Evvia Belireau anchored the back row with a team-high 11 digs.
Jasmine Chrétien had five kills and two aces, and
Leni Blanke added five kills and seven block assists.
Aimee Skinner powered the Thunderbirds with 16 kills, five aces and 11 digs. Akash Grewal added 10 kills with just two errors, and setters Mackenzie Campbell and Issy Robertshaw combined for 48 assists.
The first set featured 13 ties and four lead changes. UBC built a 16-12 lead before the Dinos chipped away, and a block from
Narelle Arnold and Tuckwood pulled them level at 18-18. After the Thunderbirds earned a set point at 24-23, Abu tied it with a kill and then gave Calgary the lead with an ace. The teams traded points until Chrétien's kill put the Dinos up 27-26, and
Kalyssa Komori and Blanke combined on a block to close out the set 28-26.
Calgary carried that energy into the second set and led 15-12 before UBC took control with seven straight points. Campbell served the last six of them, including back-to-back aces, and the Thunderbirds pulled away to even the match.
The Dinos opened the third set with three straight points, two of them on Komori aces, and still led 7-5. UBC then scored nine unanswered, with Skinner serving three aces during the run. Arnold answered with two aces of her own to bring Calgary within 12-17, but UBC held on to win the set 25-17.
The fourth set was tied six times before the Thunderbirds edged ahead. Calgary pulled within 17-16 and later cut a five-point deficit to 23-20 on kills from Abu and
Reese Evjen, but UBC closed out the match two points later.
The Dinos will return to action Saturday, Oct. 24 when they face the UBC Thunderbirds again at War Memorial Gym at 6:45 p.m. MT. The game can be seen live on Canada West TV powered by BioSteel.
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