Weekly Dino Digest – Nov. 28 to Dec. 1

By Maggie Hsu, November 30 2024—

With the final week of classes ahead of us, the Dinos look to wrap up their season with this last weekend of play for the semester with action from the wrestling, basketball, hockey and volleyball teams. As always, the Dinos have plenty going on for students to take in. All Dinos’ home games are free events with your UCID. Tickets can be purchased online with your student ID number. Check out the master schedule and grab a couple of friends to cheer on your Dinos!

Wrestling

The Dinos hit the mat this weekend in Saskatoon. With the national rankings of the 2024-25 season announced last week, both Dinos teams ranked in the top-10 with the women sitting at the top of the nation at number one, a spot that they have held consistently last year. The men rank at number eight in the nation so they will use this weekend to try and climb up.

This will be the second meet of conference action since hosting their first meet back in October before they return in January to open the new year at home for the Dinos Cup and Jurassic Classic.

Hockey

The women’s hockey team is away in Langley this weekend as they visit the Trinity Western Spartans for two games. Both teams are tied for last in the West Division at the halfway point of the season, marking this weekend as an important battle for the Dinos to try and finish off the year strong. Despite being tied in points, if the playoffs were to start today, the Spartans would win the tie breaker as they have outscored the Dinos in their cumulative games.

First star of week 14, Dallon Melin, and the men’s team are back at Father David Bauer, hosting the Trinity Western Spartans for their final set of games for the calendar year. Currently sitting with a comfortable 12-point lead over their weekend opponents, the Dinos will hope to bank some more points to try and break their tie for second in the West Division with the UBC Thunderbirds. The MRU Cougars still hold the top spot in the divisional standings with 22-points but the Dinos have a good chance of closing that lead with wins this weekend. Puck drop on Friday is slated for 7 p.m. at Father David Bauer and Saturday’s game is set to start at 6 p.m. at Father David Bauer as well.

Volleyball

It’s the annual Block Party Friday in Jack Simpson Gym for the Dinos’ volleyball teams to celebrate the end of the semester. The women’s team will kick off the weekend on Friday at 6 p.m. and return to The Jack on Saturday for play at 5:30 p.m. They sit at a 2-6 and third from last in the standings, just four-points outside of the coveted tenth-place spot needed to qualify for the playoffs. The UBCO Heat sit one rank above the Dinos and will be competing hard on the court to try and break their way into the top-10 and come out of the halfway point of the season in a strong place to come back to in January. 

The men’s side find themselves holding on strong to a playoff bid but will need to bring their A-game akin to the set they stole from the Alberta Golden Bears this past weekend, handing the Golden Bears one of only five sets dropped this season. Despite UBCO sitting at fourth in the Canada West, the Dinos are capable of challenging the Heat who have yet to play a five-set match this season. Will the Dinos be able to steal a win from the Heat this weekend? Be sure to check out the final games of 2024 at The Jack. Friday’s game is set to start at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday is slated for a 4 p.m. start.

Basketball

The Dinos men’s basketball team is preparing to finish off 2024 on the road in Prince George against the UNBC Timberwolves for some exhibition action.

Last weekend saw the Dinos extend their undefeated season to seven games against the UBC Thunderbirds before ultimately being handed their first loss on Saturday, dropping the game by a tight margin of 89-93. Despite this, they still hold their place as the second-ranked team in U SPORTS (the women sit at seventh). UNBC has the inverse record of the Dinos so the Dinos have a good opportunity to use this weekend to end the year on a high and set themselves up for success when they come back in January.