Things definitely looked grim for the Dinos women’s volleyball team as they battled the Brandon Bobcats, falling down two sets to none Fri. evening. Backed by some tremendous blocking and a great all-around attack, the Bobcats were poised to take the first match against one of the top-ranked teams in the CIS. Sensing his team was in need of a boost, coach Kevin Boyles sent in four women who had not started the match in order to try and turn the tide. His gamble paid off. Late in the third set with the score tied 20-20, Boyles sent in Lauren Perry, who returned to the team after being injured. Perry delivered, securing a Dinos victory with three crucial kills in the final points of the set. The Dinos won the set 25-21. From this point, it seemed that all momentum shifted into the Dinos’ court and the women went on to cruise to victory in the final two sets, which ended 25-17 and 15-7.
“The game was a shining example of the depth of our team,” stated Boyles moments after his team had completed the comeback victory. “We had four people on the floor that didn’t start who won the last three sets.”
Boyles gave a lot of credit to first-year setter Catherine Monks, who was one of the players to come in after the Dinos were down.
“Catherine Monks really delivered the ball well to our hitters,” he said.
Saturday seemed to be a carry over from Fri. as the Dinos used the momentum from the night before. Bolstered by strong spike serving and continued great play by Lauren Perry–who had 13 kills and 10 digs on the evening–the Dinos cruised to a three-set victory 25-22, 25-14, 28-26.
“Our spike servers were really consistent, which gives the rest of the team confidence,” said Boyles. “I was really happy with Holly Harper and Laura Wilson tonight, and when they’re on, our float servers feed off of that as well.”
The Dinos improved their record to 4-0 on the season while the Brandon Bobcats drop to 0-6. As of Tue., the Dinos remain the fifth-ranked team in the CIS, behind the Universities of Montreal (4), British Columbia (3), Alberta (2) and top-ranked Manitoba.