Photo credit Andrew Snucins / Courtesy of Thompson Rivers University Sports Information

KAMLOOPS, BC (CIS)- The Canada West continued its dominance of Canadian University Men’s Volleyball.  Three of the four teams emerging out of the quarter finals at the 2010 Championship at the Tournament Capital Center are from the West.

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

The University of Calgary Dinos had the hardest road.  The Dinos rallied from a 2-0 deficit to down the Dalhousie University Tigers of the AUS 3-2.  The scores on Friday (March 12) were 21-25,24-26,25-20,25-19,16-14.

“ I have to go back a few years to think of a match that we won of this magnitude, “ said Dinos head coach Rod Durrant. “ This group has fought hard all year.  We won this quarter final against a very good Dalhousie team. It was a match we trained all year for and to go down 2-0 and come back is huge win for this program and this group of guys.”

The Dinos were led by Player of the Game Graham Vigrass (3rd year, Calgary, Ab). He had 20 kills in 50 chances and 10 digs.  Setter Ciaran McGovern (3rd year, Grande Prairie, Ab) had 22 assists and 10 digs.   Curtis James (4th year, Calgary, Ab) had 12 kills.

For Dalhousie: Sander Ratsep (4th year, London, Ont) had 28 kills in 51 chances and added 13 digs and a block. Max Burt (4th year, Gander, NL) had 13 kills and three solo blocks.  Setter Russ Lawrence (5th year, Calgary, Ab) had 50 assists.

The victory means that Canada West will own at least three spots in the 2011 Men’s Nationals.  Trinity Western is hosting that tourney and will at least have the host berth. 
The Championship side semi finals on Saturday (Mar 13) will have Trinity against Laval at 6 pm PDT with Alberta meeting Calgary at 8 pm.  The Consolation semi finals have Queen’s against Montreal at 1 pm PDT. The host Thompson Rivers University WolfPack take on Dalhousie at 3 pm PDT.
 
STATS LEADERS

Calgary

Kills:  Graham Vigrass (20), Curtis James (12)
Blocks: Oleg Podporin (3), Curtis James (1)
Digs: Ciaran McGovern(10), Graham Vigrass (10)
Assists: Ciarian McGovern (22)
BlackBerry player of the match: Graham Vigrass

Dalhousie

Kills: Sander Ratsep (28), Max Burt (23)
Blocks: Max Bert (3)
Digs: Graeme Higgins (15), Sander Ratsep (13), Aaron Binstock (12)
Assists:  Russ Lawrence (50)
 

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: Montreal vs. Queen’s  (SSN Canada-raw feed)
15:00 Consolation #2: Thompson Rivers vs. Dalhousie (SSN Canada-raw feed)
18:00 Semi-final #1: Laval vs. Trinity Western  (SSN Canada)
20:00 Semi-final #2: Alberta vs. Calgary (SSN Canada)

Sunday, March 14

13:00 5th place 
15:00 Bronze medal (SSN Canada)
18:00 Championship final (SSN Canada)

-CIS-