Dinos rally to force deciding Game 3

Recap by University of Winnipeg Sports Information

WINNIPEG — The Calgary Dinos extended their season for at least another day.

The Dinos rallied from three points down in the fifth set and defeated the Winnipeg Wesmen 3-2 (25-19, 22-25, 22-25, 15-11) in Match 2 of their Canada West women's volleyball play-in series Friday night at the Duckworth Centre. 

The deciding third match goes Saturday at 4 p.m. CT at the Duckworth and live on Canada West TV. 

A night after lamenting her team's "compete" in a straight-sets loss, Calgary coach Christine Biggs was once again emphasizing it, only this time as a deciding factor in her team's ability stay alive. 

"We fixed it," Biggs said. "I had very little to say besides we needed to compete harder yesterday, and very little to say today except we competed harder. That's what happens when you battle for everything. 

"We did a better job of fighting and getting after the spaces we knew we were looking for and fighting when it wasn't going well. When execution wasn't there, we just stayed in it."

Sophia Hansen had a team-high 19 kills and 16 digs for the Dinos, who trailed 8-5 in the fifth set before rallying off seven of the next eight points to seize control. 

Leni Blanke added 16 kills and 11 digs as the Dinos got a ton of production from their hitters on the pins. 

"We knew the series was going to be very even coming into it," Wesmen head coach Phil Hudson said. "The stats were even, the experience from players was very even, and we were tied in the league, so we knew it was going to battle. Now it's going to come down to a third match, so it's kind of what we expected.

"We'll regroup and get better for tomorrow."

Brooke Duncalfe continued her torrid play with 24 kills and 13 digs. It was her fourth 20-kill match of the season and her third straight double-double. Megan Kendziora added 17 kills but the Wesmen were held to -.056 attacking in the fifth set while the Dinos attacked at .350 in the deciding frame. 

Winnipeg hit .377 for the night and Calgary .368.