Courtesy Thompson Rivers sports information

KAMLOOPS, B.C. (CIS). –The University of Calgary Dinos have captured their first CIS Men’s Volleyball Championship in 17 years.

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

Video http://ssncanada.blip.tv/file/3347563/

The Dinos emerged victorious in an “all Canada West” gold medal match at the 2010 CIS Men’s championships at Thompson Rivers University on Sunday (Mar 14).  Calgary defeated the Trinity Western Spartans 3-1.  The scores wre 25-22,25-21-23-25,27-25.  The last time Calgary won the national title was in 1993 when they beat Montreal 3-0 in the final.

“ We came into this tournament knowing that we had to play our best volleyball,’ said Dinos coach Rod Durrant, who finished his fourth year at the helm of the program.  “ We got better as the tournament went on. We struggled against Dalhousie on the first night, but some guys came in and got our energy back. We simplified our play and it worked.  We were underdogs against Alberta and found a way to play hard. This game was a battle as well”

Durrant thought his team played very well in the first two sets, excelling at passing.  “The third set we did some good things,” he added. “We got the lead but came up with some unforced errors. They got the momentum. But in the fourth set, I  thought we really went to a different level.”

The fourth set saw the Dinos score the first five points and then hold on to win 27-25.

“I don’t think we matched Calgary’s defensive intensity in the first half of the match, “ said Spartans head coach Ben Josephson, who returns his entire team when they host the CIS Championships in 2011. “ We responded in the third set.  I thought we were swinging hard but they made more plays than we did when it counted.”

Championship MVP Graham Vigrass (3rd year, middle, Calgary,AB) led his team with 16 kills and had 10 digs. Curtis James (4th year, left side, Calgary, AB) had 11 kills while  middle Oleg Podporin, one of six fifth year players in the Dino line up (Almaty, Kazakhstan) added 10 kills.

Trinity Western was led by tournament all-star Steven Marshall (2nd year, left side, Abbotsford, BC). He had 24 kills and 10 digs.  Fellow all-star Marc Howatson (3rd year, left side, Victoria, BC) added 12 kills with Rudy Verhoeff (3rd year, middle, Calgary, Ab) adding 10 kills.

The rest of the tournament all-star team consisted of: Kevin Tillie (first year, left side, Cagnes Sur Mer, France) of Thompson Rivers,  Jay Blankenau of Calgary (3rd year, setter, Sherwood Park, AB), Spencer Leiske of Alberta (4th year, middle, Lacombe, AB), Bryan Fautley of Queen’s (4th year, outside, Oakville, Ont) and Pierre-Alexis Lapointe of Laval (1st year, libero, La Malbaie, Que).

The University of Montreal Carabins were named as the recipients of the R.W. Pugh Fair Play Award.

STATS LEADERS

Calgary
Kills: Graham Vigrass (16), Curtis James (11),Oleg Podporin (10)
Blocks: Oleg Podporin (1), David Egan (1)
Digs: Tom Porta (12), Graham Vigrass (10), Jay Blankenau (10)
Assists:  Jay Blankenau (36)
 
BlackBerry player of the match: Grham Vigrass
 
Trinity Western
Kills: Steven Marshall (24), Marc Howatson (12),Rudy Verhoeff (10)
Blocks: none
Digs: Jarrod Offereins (13), Steven Marshall (10), Ben Ball (10)
Assists: Ben Ball (51)

TOURNAMENT AWARDS:

MVP: Graham Vigrass (Calgary)

All-Stars: 

Kevin Tillie (Thompson Rivers)
Spencer Liskie (Alberta)
Marc Howatson (Trinity Western)
Steven Marshall (Trinity Western)
Jay Blankenau (Calgary)
Bryan Fautley (Queen’s)
Pierre-Alexis Lapointe (Laval)

R.W. Pugh Fair Play Award:
University of Montreal Carabins

 
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 3  Thompson Rivers 2 (25-23,15-25,21-25,25-18,15-13)
15:00 Bronze medal  Alberta 3  Laval 0 (17-25,21-25,28-30)
18:00 Championship final  Calgary 3  Trinity Western 1  (25-22,25-21,23-25,27-25)

-CIS-