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).

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