WINNIPEG – The Winnipeg Wesmen outlasted the Calgary Dinos in five sets Thursday to earn a leg up in their best-of-three Canada West conference play-in series from the Duckworth Centre.
The thrilling five-set match (25-23, 25-18, 25-17, 25-22, 15-13) marked the teams’ first game of a best-of-three series in the play-in round.
Starting off strong, the Dinos took an early 7-2 lead in the first set thanks to a series of kills and ace serves from outside hitter Daisy Olsen, who recorded 14 kills in the match. Although the Wesmen closed the gap, it wasn’t quite enough to surpass the Dinos as they kept ahead the entire set, closing set number one 25-23 with a kill from Olsen.
With the first set lost, Winnipeg looked to swing back around, and that’s exactly what they did when they opened the second set with a 12-2 run. Selva Planincic, who led the match with 23 kills and three aces, helped to bring that lead for the Wesmen early on. Down but not out, the Dinos made an impressive 10-5 run looking to equalize the playing field as Winnipeg continued to lead 17-12. Although Calgary continued to battle, it was the Wesmen who gained their first set win, closing out with a 25-18 score.
Another strong start in the third set for the visiting team led to a 5-0 lead as Robyn McLean sniped two ace serves early on for the Dinos. However, the lead was quickly cut short as the Wesmen went on a 5-0 run of their own to tie up the set. A close set of exchanging points and service would soon turn to an easy extension ahead, as Planincic’s kills would yet again go to push the Wesmen forward, taking the third set 25-17.
Wanting to push for a fifth set, Calgary looked to find their rhythm in the fourth. An exchange of kills and errors kept the set close, but it was the Dinos who eventually took the lead thanks to their kill leader Sophia Hansen. Hitting .333% with 18 kills, Hansen, along with Olsen and McLean, would propel the Dinos further than the few points that had been traded back and forth, allowing them to take a 16-12 lead. Although the Wesmen pushed back hoping to close out the match, this lead would continue to hold as Calgary would go to close out the fourth set with a 25-22 score.
A very close fifth set would go to be the deciding factor for the outcome of the match. Never allowing more than a two point lead for either side, the leading team continue to flop back-and-forth before the Wesmen took the lead at 8-7. Although the Dinos jumped in front shortly before the set tied 13-13, it was none other than Planincic who took the final kill of the match, as Winnipeg took the first victory in the series 15-13.
And while the Dinos showed resilience to force a fifth after dropping Sets 2 and 3, head coach Christine Biggs emphasized a missed opportunity in not capitalizing on a first set where the Dinos were largely in control. Calgary forced Winnipeg to .027 attacking in the first while hitting .303.
“We can call it resilience, but we came out and won the first and then we didn’t do what we were capable of (in Sets 2 and 3),” Biggs said. “If it’s resilience in terms of finding who we are as a team and maintaining that level, I think that’s part of the challenge.
“It’s just the game of volleyball. It’s a game of errors, there’s the beauty of having for it to have it go your way and when you go for it, there’s higher risk involved. I think there was a few errors at times where I’m proud of the errors we made — they’re on gameplan, they’re what we’re going for, but yeah, it’s just execution.”
Both teams will look for a rematch Friday for the second game of their play-in series at Duckworth Centre.