Sanderson, Bobcats shock No. 4 Dinos
CALGARY The trio of Paul Sanderson, Kevin Miller, and Jonathan Sloane was almost singlehandedly responsible for the final result as the ninth-ranked Brandon Bobcats shocked the No. 4 Calgary Dinos 3-0 Friday night in the Jack Simpson Gym (25-19, 25-20, 25-19).
CALGARY – The trio of Paul Sanderson, Kevin Miller, and
Jonathan Sloane was almost singlehandedly responsible for the final
result as the ninth-ranked Brandon Bobcats shocked the No. 4
Calgary Dinos 3-0 Friday night in the Jack Simpson Gym (25-19,
25-20, 25-19).
Of the 46 total kills scored by the Bobcats on the night, the
threesome accounted for 42 of them as the Bobcats improved to 9-6
on the year while dropping Calgary to 11-4.
The loss marks the first time the Dinos have been swept 3-0 since
Jan. 23, 2009, also by Brandon and makes the road to first place
difficult for Calgary.
“It looked like we just lacked intensity tonight,” said
Rod Durrant, fourth-year head coach of the Dinos. “The
breakdown of our serve receive really affected our confidence and
our level of competition. You can’t compete at this level if
you can’t serve and pass, and they took advantage of our
inability to do that tonight.
“Brandon played very well, they came into our gym and did
what they had to do,” Durrant went on. “They outworked
us on the defensive end, and they passed the ball extremely well.
Those three guys in particular are all very respectable players,
and when you pass and distribute the ball they way they did tonight
they’re able to get a lot of one-on-ones and be
successful.”
Sanderson put on another offensive show on Brandon’s side of
the net, racking up 22 kills by himself and hitting an impressive
46 per cent from the left side. Miller added 12 kills while Sloane
went 8-for-13 without a single error in a solid performance in the
middle.
Calgary countered relatively well in the middle with David Egan,
who recorded seven kills on 10 tries, and Oleg Podporin put up
seven kills as well, but Sanderson found himself against just one
Calgary blocker for much of the night and was able to pick apart
the Dinos defence. Calgary was unable to respond offensively from
the outside and Brandon was there with a solid block all night,
posting 5.5 team blocks against just two for the Dinos.
Curtis James and Omar Langford each had six kills in a losing cause
for Calgary, while Chris Hoag came off the bench and enjoyed mild
success with four kills on his eight attempts.
The result means that Calgary needs to win its final three games of
the regular season to have a realistic chance at finishing atop the
standings and earning both a first-round bye and hosting rights for
the Final Four. Calgary has also yet to clinch home-court advantage
in the first round of the post-season, needing at least one more
victory to do so – and the process starts Saturday night.
“We need to worry about our side of the net and to do the
things we’re capable of doing to be competitive, not just
against Brandon but for the rest of the season,” Durrant
said. “We’ll get ready for tomorrow night.”
The Dinos will search for their first win over Brandon since 2005
when the series wraps up Saturday night at the Jack Simpson Gym,
with a scheduled 8 p.m. MT start.
Source:
Ben Matchett
Sports Information Director
University of Calgary Dinos
