Men’s Volleyball: Weekend Update

By Randy Lewis

The road-weary Dinos returned home from Saskatoon following a disappointing weekend series where they dropped two straight matches to the University of Saskatchewan Huskies. In doing so, they fell from top spot in the Canada West conference for the first time this year.

Friday evening’s match was one to forget for the now-third-ranked Dinos as the Huskies more than doubled their kill percentage and made quick work of their lumbering guests, sweeping the Dinos 3-0 (25-20, 25-17, 25-19).

Despite seven service aces by the Dinos and strong performances by Bill Byma and Dennis Zhukov–who had 15 kills apiece–the visitors came up a couple of points short in a five-set marathon on Saturday night, losing 3-2 (25-22, 26-28, 16-25, 25-23, 17-15).

Fourth-year middle hitter Wes Montgomery had one of his best series of the season. He finished the weekend with 26 kills with a kill efficiency of nearly 65 per cent to go along with his always solid defensive play at the net.

With the two losses, the Dinos fall into a second-place tie with the Huskies in Canada West play, one game behind the University of Alberta Golden Bears with two weekends left in the regular season. The Dinos look to get back on track at the Jack this weekend when they play host to the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds. Games go Friday and Saturday evening starting at 8:00 p.m.