Photo credit Andrew Snucins / Courtesy Thompson Rivers sports information

KAMLOOPS, B.C. (CIS). –.For the first time since 2000-01, the University of Alberta Golden Bears will not be in the final of the CIS Men’s Volleyball Championship. 

Championship website (including complete stats): http://english.cis-sic.ca/championships/mvball

Video

CIS Men's VBall Finals S2 Hilites Laval vs TWU - Semi 1 Hilites

In the second big upset of the 2010 championships, the two time defending national champions were beaten by the University of Calgary Dinos 3-2.  The scores on Saturday (Mar 13) were 25-23,19-25,23-25,25-23,15-13.

“Two points,” that is how Dinos head coach Rod Durrant summed up the difference between the two teams on this night. “ I think the last three games were decided by two points. At the end of day, it is the team that executes and makes plays wins.  Our guys kept believing. There was no bit of doubt when they came in from a time out…it didn’t matter the score, or the situation.  They kept going and made some big plays. It is rewarding to watch them play that way when it matters.”

“We got a slow start,” stated Golden Bears head man Terry Danyluk, who consoled his shocked squad afterwards. “I thought Calgary came out like gangbusters in the first set. We struggled but regrouped. We were playing well enough to win. We had a couple of chances but couldn’t get them in at the end.”

The fourth set saw Alberta jump to a 9-6 lead before Calgary scored three in a row to cut the margin to 10-9. The teams were deadlocked at 16 before another 3-0 run gave the Dinos a 19-16 advantage, although the Golden Bears cut the margin, they couldn’t finish it.

The deciding set saw the teams exchange points until Alberta went on a pair of 2-0 runs and eventually lead 9-5 before Calgary called a time out. The Golden Bears led 13-11 before the Dinos rattled off four straight points to win to earn their first trip to the National Final since 1994-95 (Calgary beat Montreal 3-0 that year).

The victory over Alberta was the Dinos second straight in five sets.  Durrant dismissed the thought his team was fatigued. “You just aren’t tired at this time of year,” he smiled. “ You just want to keep playing and not stop.  At the end of the day, they (the players) never cease to amaze me. They keep playing hard and believe.”

The Dinos got 26 kills from Graham Vigrass (3rd year, middle, Calgary, Ab). David Eagan (4th year, middle, Calgary, Ab) had 12 kills and nine digs. Curtis James (4th year, left side, Calgary, Ab) had 12 kills and nine digs. Player of the match Jay Blankenau (3rd year, setter, Sherwood Park, Ab) had 45 assists.

Alberta’s top players were Spencer Leiske with 18 kills. Jason DeRocco had 15 kills and 10 digs. His brother Mike had 48 assists.

How does Durrant see the final against Trinity? “ It’ll be a heck of a match.  We went five with them last week in the Canada West Semi finals (which was won by Trinity). They are going to battle us and we will battle them. It’ll be two young teams going at it.”

The Championship final will go at 6 pm PST.

STATS LEADERS

Calgary
Kills: Graham Vigrass (26), David Egan (13), Curtis James (12)
Blocks: Jay Blankenau, Oleg Podporin (1)
Digs: Tom Porta,Curtis James (9)
Assists:  Jay Blankenau (45)
 
BlackBerry player of the match: Jay Blankenau
 
Alberta
Kills: Spencer Leiske (18), Jason DeRocco (15), Thomas Jarmoc (14)
Blocks:  Justin Merta, Simon Lidster,Mike DeRocco (1)
Digs: Erik Mattson, Jason DeRocco (10)
Assists: Mike DeRocco (48)
 
SCHEDULE & RESULTS (all times LOCAL: Pacific Time)

Friday, March 12

Quarter-final #1: Laval 3, Montreal 0 (25-20, 25-20,, 25-18)
15:00 Quarter-final #2: Trinity Western 3  Queen’s (25-19,15-23,25-19)
18:00 Quarter-final #3: Alberta 3  Thompson Rivers 1  (25-21,20-25,20-25,22-25)
20:00 Quarter-final #4: Calgary 3  Dalhousie 2  (21-25,24-26,25-20,25-19,16-14)

Saturday, March 13

13:00 Consolation #1: Queen’s 3 Montreal 1 (27-29,22-25,25-16,24-26)
15:00 Consolation #2: Thompson Rivers 3  Dalhousie 0 (25-18,25-15,25-16)
18:00 Semi-final #1: Trinity Western 3  Laval 2   (25-22,20-25,25-23,23-25,18-20)
20:00 Semi-final #2: Calgary 3 Alberta 2 (25-23,19-25,23-25,25-23,15-13)

Sunday, March 14

13:00 5th/6th place: Queen’s vs Thompson Rivers (SSN Canada Live Feed)
15:00 Bronze medal Laval vs Alberta (SSN Canada)
18:00 Championship final  Trinity Western vs Calgary (SSN Canada)

-CIS-