WINNIPEG – The University of Calgary Dinos women’s volleyball team’s season has come to an end, falling 3-0 (22-25, 20-25, 16-25) to the Winnipeg Wesmen on Saturday at the Duckworth Centre.
The Dinos kept it close in the first set but were unable to contain the Wesmen, who now advance to take on the Alberta Pandas in a best-of-three Canada West quarter-final next week in Edmonton.
To get there, though, the Wesmen put up one of their more comprehensive efforts of the season, attacking at .264 for the match while holding Calgary to .109. Winnipeg had nine total blocks and 49 digs, stymying a Dinos attack that was impressive in a Match 2 win on Friday night.
The Dinos had a modest three-point lead midway through the first set, but a run of four out of six points from Winnipeg tipped the scales to the home side. Still, the Dinos did manage to pull back in front at 22-21 before the Wesmen tore off four straight to close it out.
In Set 2, the Wesmen broke a 5-5 tie with seven points out of eight and went ahead by as many as 10 at 18-8. Calgary threatened with a run that got it to 22-19 before the Wesmen benefitted from two Calgary service errors to go up two sets.
The Wesmen had one more decisive stretch in them in the third set that seized ultimate control. With the score tied 14, Winnipeg won nine of the next 10 points to go up 23-14 before finishing it off with a Grace Vallis kill.
“It looked like the team that was going after it got it,” Calgary head coach Christine Biggs said. “I think we’ve got a really exciting young group, and that’s a cool thing that we get to work with going forward.
“I think there were moments of compete by both (teams) but, yeah, the Wesmen showed up for every point like they wanted it.”
Brooke Duncalfe led Winnipeg with 15 kills and 11 digs, and middle blocker Vallis had eight kills on 11 swings with a season-high six digs. Ella Werbiski was also in double digits with a match-high 12 digs.
The Dinos were once again paced by Sophia Hansen, who had a team-high 14 kills and eight digs. Leni Blanke added a team-high nine digs.
Calgary graduates three players from this year’s squad, with Dominique Desautels, Ashley Ditchfield, and Kaylyn Tanton concluding their university careers this weekend.