Files from TWU Sports Information
LANGLEY, BC – The No. 3 ranked Calgary Dinos booked their spot in the Spartan Holiday Classic with a 3-1 (25-20, 22-25, 25-15, 25-22) win over the UBC Thunderbirds Tuesday evening at the Langley Events Centre.
The Dinos hit 42.3 per cent compared to 21.1 per cent from UBC and Calgary utilized momentum from an efficient fourth set – one in which they hit 68.4 per cent – to earn a place in the tournament final Wednesday at 8:00 p.m. against the winner of the Trinity Western vs. Queen's game.
"We played hard at times but it was not nearly consistent enough to compete against one of the top teams in the country and the defending CIS national champs," said UBC head coach
Richard Schick. "We played well in spurts which was similar to yesterday but today we came up against an opponent who pushed back when we started to play well."
In the first set, Calgary took an early 4-3 lead and kept the pressure on UBC the rest of the way, never trailing and holding momentum hostage for much of the frame. The Dinos had five players with at least two kills in the opening set, including four from David Egan and three from Chris Hoag.
In the second, Calgary got off to a similar start as the first, storming to an 11-6 lead before UBC fought back. With a kill from
Ben Chow, the T-Birds closed the gap to within four points and promptly went on a 6-1 run that tied the set 12-12. The game then went back a forth until UBC finally took an 18-17 lead, one they would never relinquish as they evened the match with a 25-22 win.
But after losing the second set and seemingly dispossessed of momentum, Calgary cranked its play up a few notches, raced to a 5-0 lead – which quickly became a 13-3 lead – and then cruised to a 25-15 win.
The fourth set was going the T-Birds way in the opening stages as they went on a 5-0 run to give themselves a tidy 7-4 lead. And then, later in the match a kill by
Tanner Kozak restored that three-point lead and made it 15-12 for UBC. But Calgary rediscovered its strength from the third set and went on a 4-0 run to give itself a 16-15 lead and the game's momentum. And once the Dinos had the lead, they didn't let it go, rolling to a 25-22 win.
Chow had a team-high 11 kills for the 'Birds despite playing in only the first three sets.
Blair Bann led UBC with eight digs and
Chris Klassen had 21 assists.
The T-Birds play the loser of the Queen's vs. Trinity Western game Wednesday at 6:00 p.m.
Match Notes: Calgary outblocked UBC 8.0 to 5.5…
Ben Chow had a game-high three service aces, which was two more than Calgary had as a team.
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