By Carly McKay
The Dinos men’s volleyball team’s coming out party was held in the Jack Simpson Gymnasium Jan. 27-28. While it’s unfortunate it came around so late in the season, the squad is happy it finally happened.
“It just proves my theory,” beamed head coach Greg Ryan. “We finally have a healthy setter, we were more consistent in assists–it has a direct effect on our kill percentage.”
And kill was the name of the game for the Dinos Friday night as they destroyed the Thompson Rivers University WolfPack in three straight sets (25-13, 25-20, 25-21).
There was a solid team contribution to the attack. Blake Adair and Eric von Engelbrechten shared the lead in kills with nine each, von Engelbrechten chipped in eight digs as well. The team played with more confidence than they’ve shown all season, and although the victory came against the last placed team in the conference, every tally in the win column is a building block for next season.
“We can take a lot of things and learn from them,” commented up-and-coming offside hitter Stephen Gotch. “It gives us a little momentum for next year.”
Momentum was in good supply over the weekend as the home side rolled into Saturday’s rematch with even more determination to take their first sweep of the season on their own court. With Adair again pacing the offense with seven kills, the Dinos easily defeated the hapless WolfPack in straight sets (25-22, 25-16, 25-22).
This improves their record to 4-14 heading into their last matches of the season: a road date with the University of Winnipeg Wesmen Feb. 11-12.