The University of Toronto Varsity Blues women's volleyball team defeated the No. 3 seed Calgary Dinos 3-1 (25-19, 18-25, 25-21, 25-16) in the second consolation semifinal of the 2019 U SPORTS women's volleyball championship at the University of Alberta.

LAST TIME OUT: The Blues and the Dinos have split the only other times they have met at national tournament. Toronto defeated Calgary 3-2 in the quarter-final round of the 2001 event. Calgary returned the favour two years later, defeating the Blues 3-2 in the opening round.

UP NEXT: Toronto will take on No. 1 Trinity Western University in the consolation final tomorrow, March 17, at 12pm MST at the Saville Community Sports Centre in Edmonton.

FROM THE HEAD COACH: "We knew we had to serve tough. I was really proud that we did, and that created opportunities for us", said Blues bench boss Kristine Drakich. "It's really hard to play this [consolation] match but you don't always get what you want and you have to do the best with wherever you are, so I'm really proud of how the team, as a collective, came together."

TORONTO STATS: Four-time all-Canadian Alina Dormann had a game-high 23 points off of 20 kills and two aces, while also tallying eight digs. The Blues player of the game, Brianna Patrick, notched 15 points on nine kills and a game-high six aces, while second-year middle Jenna Woock was also strong today for Toronto, hammering home 12 kills of her own.

Blues rookie setter Hayley Goodwin had a game-high 43 assists and libero Sophia Currier added a team-high 15 digs.

HOW IT HAPPENED: The game was a back-and-forth affair through the early goings of the first set. The Blues held a slight two-point cushion until Dormann got into groove and provided some timely offence, scoring three points on a 4-0 run, extending the lead to 13-7.Toronto pushed that lead to six after the technical timeout and were up 20-14 before the Dinos could get their feet under them. The Blues would take the first set 25-19.

Unforced errors continued to be the Achilles heel for the Blues in the second set and allowed Calgary to gain some early momentum. With runs of four and five, the Canada West finalist would stretch their lead to 16-7 at the second technical timeout. Toronto went on a 4-0 of their own midway through the set with stellar play from Woock, Patrick and Dormann, but it wasn't enough to close the gap any further. Blues fell 18-25.

The third and fourth sets saw much of the same. Toronto's solid defence and strong serving game provided additional attacking opportunities to score against the injury-plagued Calgary squad. Dormann's kills and Patrick's timely aces were what was needed to power past the Dinos, 25-21, 25-16 in the third and fourth, respectively.