By Amanda Hu
The University of Calgary Dinos men’s volleyball team managed to take bronze at the 21st Annual Husky Dino Cup Oct. 25-27.
The tournament, hosted at the Jack Simpson Gym, featured four men’s teams including the Dinos, the University of Alberta Golden Bears, the Stanford University Cardinal and the University of the Pacific Tigers over the three-day event.
Thursday’s game against the Cardinal saw the Dinos take a lead early in the first frame that was soon foiled by Stanford, who won the frame 25-21. Calgary was not deterred going into the second set, as they won the battle over 25-20. Both teams seemed determined for a win in the third set, settling in a stalemate until Stanford’s Evan Romero beat through the 21-21 tie and finished off the set.
In the fourth set, Stanford destroyed Calgary’s efforts as Cardinal Spencer McLachlin finished the Dinos off 25-23.
Friday was a better day for the volleysaurs as they took a strong-starting, slightly wavering 3Â-2 win over the Tigers. The Dinos commanded the first two sets with scores of 25-17 and 25-16, putting them in a confident position for a quick win. The Tigers responded to the efforts with winning the third and fourth sets at 25Â-17 and 25-16. With victory so close, the Dinos stepped up their game and finished Pacific off with a 15-8 win.
Saturday was a battle of Alberta as the Dinos played the Golden Bears. Calgary couldn’t regain the momentum of Friday’s win and faced a quick defeat at the hands of Alberta. The Bears took the match quickly with scoring 25-12, 25-20 and 25-17 in their three winning sets.
Fifth-year Scott Price was a guiding light for the Dinos during the whole tournament, leading the team with 14 kills in Friday’s game and seven on Sat.
“There were some good moments, but I think inconsistent would be the best way to describe it,” he said. “We played well structurally and played very badly tonight.”
While mildly disappointed with the results, Dinos head coach Rod Durrant was grateful for the learning experiences the tournament provided the young team.
“We got a chance to play against some very good teams in exhibition,” Durrant said. “We need to get better. We’ve got 12 new guys and that was our intent: to learn and give them a chance to play at home and get better. At times we did that and at times we didn’t. We need to adjust a few things and get back into practice for the next couple of weeks to get ready for our games against UBC on the Nov. 2 and 3 and that’s our goal.”