A meteor struck Calgary on the weekend, but this time left the dinosaurs unscathed. The U of M Bisons women’s volleyball team was swept in a dominant performance by the conference-leading University of Calgary Dinos in the Canada West quarterfinals.
Thursday
Despite a strong start from the herd, Calgary made an epic comeback to beat Manitoba 3-2 Thursday to lead the best-of-three series 1-0.
Hannah Tanasichuk led the Dinos charge with 20 kills, while Kennedy Snape got down for a game-high 28 digs for the home team.
Jocelyn Koswin smacked down 11 kills for the herd, while Cassie Bujan had 16 digs.
Calgary came out flat in the first set, committing 13 errors to propel Manitoba to an opening set win. The Dinos could only score two points in a row throughout the set, while the visiting Bisons strung together four 3-0 scoring runs to snag a 25-20 set win.
Koswin led the charge for Manitoba in the second set, pounding down seven kills for the Bisons, while Tanasichuk killed five balls to help keep the Dinos close.
Manitoba led 8-7 when four consecutive points gave the Bisons a big enough lead to hold on and win the close set 25-22.
Everything changed in the third frame when the Dinos attack was unstoppable.
Tanasichuk led Calgary with six kills in the set, while Kenzie Vaandering pounded down another three. The Dinos finished the set with a 7-1 scoring run, capped off by a Vaandering service ace to win 25-14.
Calgary carried this dominance over to the fourth frame and handily won the set 25-12. The home team showed no mercy and held an early 11-2 lead. The Dinos never looked back and rolled on to force a deciding fifth set.
Kills from three different players and a Bisons error helped the Dinos build an early 4-0 lead in the final set. Vaandering and Adriel Goodman each slapped down two kills to lead Calgary to a 15-8 set win and a game one victory.
Friday
Manitoba’s season came to a close Friday, as the Dinos waltzed to a 3-0 win and swept the quarterfinal series.
Tanasichuk again led the Dinos charge with 12 kills and Snape had a game-high 18 digs, while the Bisons were led by Koswin’s 10 kills.
Both offences were flowing in the first set. The Manitoba attack was led by Kearley Abbott and Koswin each killing five balls in the set.
Calgary led 9-7 when the club put together three straight points to increase its lead to five.
Tanasichuk pounded down four kills for the home team and the early five-point lead was enough to lead Calgary to a close 26-24 set win.
Beth Vinnell’s four kills spearheaded the strong second frame for Calgary. Manitoba led 9-7, but Calgary put together a 9-1 scoring run to take a 16-10 lead. Manitoba was knocked on its heels, committing 11 errors in the set to help Calgary to a dominant 25-13 win.
Koswin knocked down four kills for the Bisons in the third set, but Tanasichuk pounded down six — including a solo 5-1 run to close out the set — and Vaandering tallied another four kills for Calgary.
The Dinos took an early lead and walked to a 25-17 set win, a match victory and series sweep.
