After a well deserved holiday break the lady Dinos returned to the hard court on January 3-4 to take on the reigning national champions, the Manitoba Bisons.
This match up should have had greatness written all over, after all, this was the rematch of the national finals held in Quebec City last year. Instead the fans saw Calgary blow out Manitoba.
The Dinos came out on fire and manhandled the Bisons in three straight sets two nights in a row. Unfortunately, this was not for a national title.
“Going in, the team realized how significant the wins would be and how it would give us a chance to host in the playoffs,” stated Head Coach Kevin Boyles.
Boyles was not only pleased with the wins but also with the way his middles Jill Friend and Tracy Keats played.
“It was one of the best weekends with back-to-back games I have seen the girls play in years.”
Friend and Keats seemed to agree with Boyles and were also pleased with the fact that they outplayed some fellow national team members from Manitoba.
“It was good to have the time off, our team came back refreshed–both mentally and physically,” stated Keats.
Sadly, all good things come to an end, and the Dinos got a taste of their own medicine, losing their first match to U of A over the weekend in three straight sets. And even though the Dinos fought hard on Saturday to take the first two games, they came up short losing 15-6 in the fifth-game tiebreaker.
“U of A played their butts off,” said team Captain Amanda Moppett. “And unfortunately for us, we were too inconsistent and just played poor. We also had a weak defensive game all weekend.
“On Saturday we got our act together but U of A just kept fighting back and played amazing,” she added.
Though Calgary lost in Edmonton, they are still in third place in the Canada West Conference. If Calgary can stay in the top four until the end of the season they will guarantee themselves a trip to Quebec City and an opportunity for another shot at a national title.
The Dinos have one home game left before playoffs against the University of Regina January 17-18 at the Jack Simpson.