A comforting Clan killing

By Sean Nyilassy

After an unfortunate loss to the Vancouver-based University of British Columbia Thunderbirds Jan. 28-29, the Dinos women’s volleyball team had a chance to exact their revenge on all Vancouverites Feb. 3-4. The Simon Fraser University Clan paid a visit to the Jack Simpson Gymnasium and was welcomed with a barrage of spikes and blocks from our ladies.

Although the Dinos, under injury-free conditions, should have a roster of 13 players ready to take to the court at any moment, only eight ladies dressed for the contests against the Clan. Despite this, the Dinos catapulted to a 25-12 first-set win on Friday.

The second set saw SFU snag an early lead and build a moat around their castle that kept the Dinos away. It wasn’t until the Clan was up 20-23 that the Dinos sprung into action. They dove on in after an SFU service error and were back on solid ground thanks to a kill from Dino rookie Raynell Lavertu. A Clan kill hit the net, allowing Lavertu to siege their castle with a kill for a 25-23 win.

The Dinos returned to their usual winning ways to take the third set 25-18. Lauren Perry led the Dinos with 14 kills while Deanna Delisle chipped in eight kills, six assisted blocks and a solo block. Setter Natalie Schwartz provided 11 digs and 36 assists.

In Saturday’s opening set, the teams were fairly evenly matched until a tie was reached at 16 points. At this point the Dinos drew their swords and quickly filleted the Clan 25-19. The remainder of the game provided little challenge for our small but talented group of ladies. They took the remaining two sets 25-16 and 25-12.

Carolyn MacDonald had a game-high 13 kills while Neda Boroumand posted 24 digs. Julie Young had nine kills and 19 digs and Schwartz had 35 assists, 10 digs and three assisted blocks.

The 13-5 Dinos now take to the road for their final regular season games Feb. 11-12. They take on the 11-7 University of Winnipeg Wesmen in a pair of games that could secure them second place in Canada West if the stars align properly.