There’s an old Klingon proverb that says, “revenge is a dish best served cold.”
On Jan. 30, this was proven true as the University of Calgary Dinos women’s volleyball team defeated the Mount Royal Cougars three sets to one (21-25, 25-18, 27-25, 25-21) in the second game of the infamous Crowchild Classic at the Jack Simpson Gym.
The match was payback for the previous day’s loss, when Cougars beat Dinos by the exact same match score (21-25, 26-24, 23-25, 15-25) at Kenyon Court.
With that victory, the Dinos are currently neck-and-neck with Cougars in the CIS Canada West division, tied with 18 points, and running middle of the pack.
“We’re really evenly matched with them, and there’s a couple of other teams that are close to us in Canada West,” said Dinos head coach Natalie Gurnsey. “It was a big weekend for us to get one win out of the set, but it would have been amazing to sweep them. Last year in the Classic, we won both games, and the two years before we split with them.”
One of the key factors in the Dinos victory during the second match was Cochranite and sophomore Beth Vinnell.
The veteran middle had an exemplary weekend, as she recorded eight kills, three aces, and six blocks in the first match against Cougars, and 11 kills, one assist, and eight digs in the second one.
“It felt great to beat (Cougars),” Vinnell said. “It was good to come out strong the second night after our first loss. It was a big win.”
Vinnell’s impact on the team has not gone unnoticed by her coach.
“She’s been a huge addition to our team,” said Gurnsey. “She is such a physical threat, fantastic leader and all around great player and person. She’s taken our program to another level that I don’t think we could have got to as quickly without her. She was instrumental in getting us our split this weekend. We were down after the first set, and I switched her to a brand new position she hadn’t played all year. But, she’s one of my most versatile players and that change made all the difference in our win on Saturday. She is invaluable.”
Even with all the accolades that have been coming her way, the Kinesiology and Education major is not letting anything go to her head.
“I can always improve on everything,” she said. “ I can still work on my defence, serving, blocking, and hitting. I’m always looking to make changes and get better.
“As a team, we’ve had to overcome some adversity this year because of injuries, so we’ve been battling ourselves a bit mentally. But, things are starting to pick up now, and we’re looking forward to pulling out some more wins this season.”
