The Dinos women’s volleyball team finished with the style one would expect of a finishing school graduate after a scare Oct. 21-22. They played their first home games of the regular season against the unranked University of Manitoba Bisons.
Anyone in the know didn’t expect much of a fight from the Bisons against our top-ranked Dinos. But in the Jack, like in Vegas, the house does not always win.
Friday’s game began as the odds predicted. The Bisons called when they should have hit a few times too many, ending up in the red 25-22. Janelle Findlay and Holly Harper were the Dinos’ top-earners; each dealt five kills to the Bisons.
In the second set the Bisons’ leash was much more slack. They managed to roll ahead to an 18-22 lead before Findlay connected with three kills, saving the Dinos a 26-24 set win.
But this game would not end without a heart-stopping turn of events. As her team stood in awe of Dino Carolyn MacDonald’s two service aces, the Bisons switched to missiles and unloaded on the Dinos. The barrage knocked the Dinos back to the prehistoric, so to speak, with a 14-25 embarrassment.
The Bisons clawed their way through the start of the fourth set as well, floating on Aladdin’s magic carpet to a comfortable 3-11 lead. Despite thumping their way back to an 11-16 deficit, the Dinos dropped the set 18-25.
A quick three kills from the Dinos’ Lauren Perry in the deciding set boosted her team to an early 6-2 lead–which was right away reduced to 7-6. The teams remained close for a number of points before the Dinos pulled away with the set (15-11), the match and imaginary winner’s crowns.
Findlay, Harper and Perry were the top Dinos with 17, 15 and 12 kills and 18, 15 and 16 digs respectively.
Saturday’s match–again versus the Bisons–was a different story, but will be included in this one anyway. The seas and heavens parted as they damn well should for our ladies.
The Dinos painted the first two sets like symphonies that were as sweet as syrup. Boyles, confident in his team’s abilities, played various combinations from the bench. These combinations will open any safe, and won both sets 25-15.
The syrup in the third symphony started to get a bit sticky, but the Dinos stuck it out. With their pride at stake, the Dinos made a few late slip-ups, stacking the squads square at 23 points. Finally, our ladies’ beanstalk sprouted the necessary two inches, sealing the set 25-23.
Findlay had 11 kills on the night. Julie Young and Neda Boroumand thwarted the balls evil attempts to scuff the court with 13 digs apiece. Boyles played most of his team members in at least two of the three sets.
Our ladies take a week off before heading east to take on the University of Saskatchewan Huskies Nov. 4-5.