Men’s volleyball opens up second half with loss to No. 4 Calgary
The second half of the Canada West men’s volleyball schedule started on Thursday night with No. 4 Calgary taking a quick straight-sets victory over the hometown Regina Cougars at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health & Sport.
The Dinos hit an impressive .464 as a team during a first set in which they won by a convincing 25-14 margin. Calgary held the Cougars to a negative hitting percentage in the second set and won 25-18, then clinched the match with a 25-16 win in the third.
Calgary (10-3) inched closer to second-place Manitoba (10-2) with the win, though the Bisons will be heavily favoured at home this weekend in their two games against a three-win UBC Okanagan team.
Curtis Stockton entered Thursday as the most heavily utilized hitter for Calgary, but it was Keith West that took the spotlight during the win. West led all players in kills (12) and attacks (27), added 10 digs for a double-double, tied Alex Cook for the match high with four blocks, had the only three service aces of the match, and hit .370 in the win.
Besides West’s exploits, Calgary also got eight kills and a match-high 11 digs from Stockton. Appearing in just his third match of the conference schedule, Alexander Bader played the just the final four points of the second set and all of the third but still finished with six kills, four digs, and a .667 hitting percentage.
Brennan Goski got his first start of the season for Regina (1-12) and responded with a team-high eight kills while adding 10 digs. Fifth-year libero Jacques Borgeaud added 14 digs as he continues to lead Canada West in both digs (142) and digs per set (3.09) this season.
Calgary and Regina will close out the series on Friday night at the CKHS. Match time will follow the conclusion of the women’s game and has a scheduled 7:30 p.m. start.
Source: reginacougars.com
