This past weekend the Jack Simpson Gymnasium was filled with volleyball players and fans for the Husky Dino Cup, a preseason tournament.
The women’s side of the tournament was less competitive than the men’s with just two teams competing. The University of Alberta Pandas faced off against the Dinos twice, their first meeting opened the tournament on Oct. 21. The Pandas took down the Dinos 3-0 (25-21, 25-18, 25-17) but the Dinos turned it around in their second match to beat the Pandas 3-0 (25-21, 25- 22, 25-11), leaving the women’s side even.
The men’s side of the tournament was much more exciting with four teams vying for the cup. The Brigham Young Cougars from Utah represented the NCAA at the tournament. The other teams, drawn from closer to home, were the Dinos, the U of A Golden Bears and the University of Saskatchewan Huskies.
The Dinos men’s volleyball team go into the upcoming volleyball season as defending CIS champions. On the road to last year’s final, the Dinos took down the Bears 3-2 in a tight semi-final match up.
The two teams met up on Oct. 21 to open the men’s tournament and the Dinos won a tight first set 25-23, played well defensively to win the second set 25-17, but lost to the Bears in the third set 25-18. The last set was another close one with the Dinos winning 25-21.
The Dinos came out on top of a close match against the U of S winning 3-2 (25-16, 25-27, 25-21, 25-27, 15-8). Calgary failed to maintain their momentum losing their last group match 2-3 (20-25, 25-22, 21-25, 25-17, 20-18) to Brigham Young.
The Bears bounced back to win their remaining group matches. Saskatchewan went 0-4 in the tournament taking a loss in each of their three group matches. Brigham Young came out of the preliminary round with two wins and a loss.
On the last day of the tournament the Cougars and the Huskies faced off in the Bronze medal match to battle it out for third. The Cougars came out on top beating the Huskies 3-0 (25-18, 25-14, 25-19).
The Dinos and the Bears met up in the final on Oct. 23. The Bears beat the Dinos 3-0 in straight sets to win their first ever Husky Dino Cup (25-20, 25-22, 25-16). The U of A’s Jay Olmstead was named the tournament MVP for his exceptional performance throughout the tournament and the final.