Dinos solve Love, Bobcats

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This article was published 18/11/2018 (1977 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Sami Love surprised the top-ranked team in the country, but it found a way to win.

Love had nine kills on 19 attacks, and added three blocks in the first set, but the University of Calgary Dinos women’s volleyball team rallied to beat the Brandon University Bobcats 3-1 (23-25, 25-18, 25-13, 25-22) in their the Canada West match at the Healthy Living Centre on Saturday.

The second-year middle is having a great first half of the season, with 57 kills and a .398 hitting percentage through eight matches. She made her presence known early in the match, picking up an early kill and two blocks in her first rotation at the net. She kept it going with another kill and a stuff before the technical timeout, and Brandon led 16-11.

“She definitely challenged us quite a bit,” said Dinos’ middle Beth Vinnell of Love. “Coming in we were more focused on their outsides and she definitely made us stay true to her and not cheat.

“She had a lot of great shots, good offence and great defence as well.”

The Dinos (8-0) roared back with a 7-1 run before the Bobcats closed out a long rally on Michelle Egger’s roll shot. Calgary snuck ahead with two stuff blocks and a pair of step-around kills by Vinnell. She finished with 10 kills and six blocks.

Brandon (2-6) trailed 23-21, but Love and Nikala Majewski scored to tie it up.

Caitlin Le made a massive dig on Dinos’ top scorer Kate Pexman to extend the rally and bring up set point. Then she pancaked a ball off the floor Majewski drew a net violation with an off-speed shot to steal the set.

Love had three kills and three blocks in the opening frame.

The six-foot middle connected with setter Jamie Bain even when the Bobcats were out of system in the first set, and they teamed up in spots all across the net in the second.

“It’s taken a couple weeks to get that connection but Jamie trusts me and that means a lot to me, to be able to force it when our passing’s not the best,” Love said. “We are a good passing team, so if we’re struggling, the serve is obviously coming very hard.

“When we get out passing under control, we have a lot of ways to score.”

Calgary’s six-foot-two right side Hannah Tanasichuk went on a five-point serving run, and Love didn’t get back onto the floor until it was 21-17 Dinos. The visitors pulled away with smart shots, putting up 16 kills in the set.

The third set was never in doubt. Vinnell served the Dinos to a 10-1 lead with six points coming on Bobcat errors. The hosts had four kills and 12 errors in the forgettable frame, and again, Love was sidelined most of the set.

“It’s for sure tough. I want to be on the court helping,” Love said. “Sitting off for long rallies and long points is hard, but it’s important to remain focused.”

Brandon got back on its feet in the fourth and worked to a 13-13 deadlock midway through the set. Love went off with a tip, deep roll shot and cross-body cannon to put the Bobcats up three.

“I had a big block in front of me, and I haven’t really been used to that,” Love said. “I have shots, and being comfortable using them really helps. You have to trick the blocker and show them one thing, then take something else, and it worked today.”

Tanasichuk gave Calgary the final push it needed with three kills and an ace down the stretch. Knotted at 22-22, the Dinos scored the next three points to win the match. Tanasichuk led Calgary with 14 kills.

“Win or lose, it’s not the result we wanted, but we played good and that will help us build for weekends to come,” said Love.

Majewski tallied a match-high 16 kills and added 13 digs, and Michelle Egger added 10 kills. Le paced the Bobcats’ back row with 19 digs.

The Bobcats head to Kelowna, B.C., for a weekend series with the UBC Okanagan Heat on Friday and Saturday.

QUICK HITS: Egger, Le, Danielle Larocque and former Bobcat Mary Thomson were honoured as 2017-18 academic all-Canadians after the match.

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