Eli Risso turned back the clock on Saturday night as he switched from Libero to setter and it almost played off for the Heat but they fell in three sets to the visiting Calgary Dinos.
After dropping the opening two sets, the Heat had a huge opportunity to keep the match alive as they held a 20-14 advantage in the third but were unable to close the deal.
Calgary improves to 5-7 with the win as they look to make a push towards the postseason while the Heat drop to 0-14 on their conference season.
Risso would finish with 25 assists for UBCO and did a great job distributing the ball to his attackers
“When it comes to volleyball IQ and understanding the game along with decision making, he is pretty exceptional in that regard,” said Brad Hudson following his senior’s performance.
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Max Heppell had 11 kills for the home team to lead all attackers while Devon Cote had nine kills and Denham O’Reilly stuffed the stat sheet with eight kills, seven digs, four blocks, and two aces.
For Calgary it was Tim Taylor who led the attack for the second straight night as he finished with a game-high 18 kills to go with five digs. Mitchell Higgin also had 10 kills for the visitors on just 16 attacks.
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The Dinos held the advantage on the stat sheet in kills (39-36), attack percentage (.273-.186) and digs (32-27). Both teams struggled from the service line as the Heat committed 17 errors compared to nine for Calgary.
Hudson also noted that arguably the hardest part about this season has been figuring out the best lineup for his team.
“We have 12 new faces in the last two years which is a lot of pieces to the puzzle and we got to figure out how to work them together and play them together,” said Hudson.
What’s next:
The Heat (0-14) will now hit the road as they travel to play two games against the Manitoba Bisons (4-8) next weekend. Calgary (5-7) will be on their home floor to take on the Winnipeg Wesmen (5-7) as both teams battle for playoff positioning.
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