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The No. 3 Calgary Dinos women's volleyball squad punched its ticket to the Canada West Final Four Saturday, defeating the Regina Cougars 3-1 to knock the Cougars out of the playoffs for the second straight season (25-20, 22-25, 25-20, 25-20).
Calgary wins the best-of-three conference quarterfinal series 2-0 and will face the UBC Thunderbirds in a single-elimination semi-final next Thursday in Edmonton. The top three teams from the Final Four advance to the CIS Championship in Fredericton, N.B., and the Dinos will look to advance to their ninth consecutive national tournament.
The Dinos were forced once again to wear down a Cougars squad that just wouldn't quit and held the statistical advantage throughout the first two and a half sets. The teams traded wins in the first two, and Regina carried the momentum from its second-set win into a 13-8 lead in the fourth.
An attack error by Regina gave the Dinos a side out, and fourth-year middle Laura Littlejohn stepped back to put the ball in play. A full 10 serves later the Dinos had concluded an 11-0 run, turning a five-point deficit into a six-point lead, and they didn't look back from there with Kat Moncks having replaced Sarah Lacny at the setter's spot.
“Kat came in and really performed tonight, and that's why she was our player of the game,” said Dinos head coach Jesse Knight. “One thing we've been stressing in the playoffs is that it takes a team to win, and I think the girls really rallied around Kat and played for her tonight.
“The great thing about these two wins is that Regina did a really good job and got us a little bit out of character, but we still found ways to win,” he went on. “Last night it was blocking, and tonight it was offence and winning those long rallies. I really want to tip my hat to
Tammy Jule and
Kelly Cowan for phenomenal careers. They played great both nights and they have nothing to be ashamed of leaving here.”
Jule (left side) and Cowan (libero), the two graduating fifth year players for Regina, indeed performed well in the final match of their CIS careers. Jule had 12 big kills from the left side, while Cowan led her team with 12 digs, many of the acrobatic variety to keep rallies alive.
Lisa Abrahamowicz paced Regina with 14 kills, while
Beth Clark had a very good night offensively with 10 kills and zero errors on 18 swings.
Where Calgary's power hitters struggled in Friday night's series opener, fifth-year captain Julie Young shone on this night. She led all players with 15 kills, matching that total with 15 digs. Holly Harper added 13 kills for Calgary, while Lauren Perry added nine as the Dinos' three fifth-year players led the charge offensively.
“It was really a phenomenal performance for Julie tonight,” said Knight. “What she did tonight was to be herself and balance her offence, and that's the key to her success. Perry started out really poorly but found a way to score, and I can't say enough how proud I am of these girls.”
The Dinos will face UBC in the conference semi-final Thursday in a match-up rife with storylines. The Thunderbirds are defending national champions, a title they won after falling to Calgary in the very same semi-final match a year ago. It will also be Knight's first playoff appearance against his former team, who the Dinos swept at home in conference play back in January.
First serve is slated for 8 p.m. Thursday night in the Main Gym at the University of Alberta. The other semi-final pits the host Alberta Pandas against the Trinity Western Spartans.
