CIS men's volleyball Saturday roundup: No. 1 Bears' perfect record blemished by Wesmen

Source: Jamie Tozer, UNB Sports Information

The UNB Varsity Reds men's volleyball team kicked off the 2015 portion of their Atlantic University Sport schedule with a 3-0 (25-17, 25-18, 25-17) victory over the Memorial Sea-Hawks on Saturday night at the Richard J. Currie Center.

Craig Toonders had 12 points for the Varsity Reds while Mathieu Losier had 32 assists and Eivind Andersen had 10 digs.

"We got the job done tonight," said V-Reds head coach Dan McMorran. "We still want to look at overall hitting percentages here. We probably didn't hit the percentage that we wanted to hit tonight, and I also thought a large part of that was that we were slow getting off the start with our serve reception."

The win improved UNB's record to 5-6 on the season while MUN fell to 0-11. The two meet again tomorrow at 3 p.m. at the Currie Center.

"We'll expect a tougher match from MUN tomorrow," said McMorran.

"They're an 0-10 team but they had a great result against Sherbrooke in the last interlock – they lost in five to them. We won 3-0 and 3-1 the first time we were in Newfoundland but the 3-1 match wasn't an easy 3-1 win. They've got some athletes over there."

For the most part, each set remained close in the early goings until the Varsity Reds started the pull ahead as it went along. Halfway through the first set, UNB led by just 12-11 but ultimately pulled out an eight-point win.

"It's not about us even looking at scores right now. We make most of our errors in a set in the first 10 points. That's just not being activated and ready to go to start a set. We're not going to get away with that next weekend when we go to Quebec."

The second and third sets were similar, as they remained close early on only to have UNB pull ahead late. The Sea-Hawks led the second set 10-9 at one point but went on to fall 25-18. In the third, the Reds put the hammer down, leading by nine at one point and going on to win 25-17.

The Varsity Reds host the Sea-Hawks again on January 11, at 3pm.

Source: Regina Sports Info

The University of Regina's men's volleyball team was bested in three sets on Saturday night by Trinity Western, giving the No. 4-ranked Spartans their second win in as many nights over the Cougars at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health & Sport.

Trinity Western won by scores of 25-20, 25-21, and 25-21 to improve its Canada West record to 12-4.

Three Spartans hit double figures in kills in the victory, led by 15 from Nicholas Del Bianco to lead all players. Del Bianco hit .481 for the match, while Ryan Sclater added 14 kills and Blake Scheerhoorn put down 10. Adam Schriemer had 32 assists for the Spartans, with Daniel Grant leading all players at the net with five blocks and libero Tyler Koslowsky collecting a team-leading seven digs.

Andre Borgeaud had a team-high 11 kills for the Cougars, while Matthew Lueck added eight kills and a match-high nine digs. Matthew Ferstl had five kills on just seven attacks for a .714 hitting percentage. Dalton Wolfe played the majority of the game at setter for the U of R, finishing with 19 assists while fellow rookie Michael Corrigan came off the bench to collect nine assists.

Trinity Western led from wire to wire in both the first and third sets, with the Cougars' only lead in the match coming on a Lueck kill on the first play of the second. Trinity Western had an immediate response, though, reeling off five straight points to go up 5-1 and force an early timeout. TWU hit an impressive .404 as a team in the victory, while the Cougars hit at a .253 clip.

Both teams will continue the conference schedule at home next weekend. The Cougars host provincial rival Saskatchewan, while Trinity Western will entertain Canada West newcomer MacEwan.

Source: Mount Royal Sports Info

Calgary — A goal in the final minutes by Joe Antilla was the difference as the visiting University of British Columbia Thunderbirds won 3-2 and swept the weekend series with the Mount Royal University Cougars.

In the final tune-up before the Crowchild Classic, the Cougars came out sluggish but turned it on towards the end. However, the late Thunderbird goal stole any chance of a point

With Dalyn Flette making his first start of 2015, the Thunderbirds went after him in the first frame. 12 minutes in, Anthony Bardaro skated into the Cougars' zone, stopped up to lose his pursuer, and fired a crisp pass to Jason Yee, who made no mistake beating Flette down low for his first of the year. Later on, with just 1:30 left in the first, Manraj Hayer fired a pass down low to Cole Wilson, who had three or four attempts before roofing in for his 10th of the year to put UBC up 2-0.

Just minutes into the second period, Brett Zarazun had the puck at the top left of the UBC zone and fired on net. It managed to sneak through a maze of players and found the five hole on Eric Williams, bringing the Cougars to just one. They continued to pepper Williams with shots, but the UBC tender was up to the task turning aside 11 of 12 in the period.

Trailing entering the third, Mount Royal threw everything at the net, and with the motive, they managed to get another by Williams. Matt Brown took a shot from the high slot and the rebound bounced right out front to Zack Henry, who batted the puck over the glove of Williams. Williams reacted like he held it, but it just trickled past. As the game entered it's final minutes and it appeared overtime might be the next option, UBC broke out of their zone and orchestrated a nice passing play finished off by Joe Antilla, scoring with just 2:15 remaining. With the goalie pulled, the Cougars couldn't score another and fell.

Williams recorded 34 saves on 36 shots, while Flette turned aside 20 of 23. Wilson picked up two points in the win.

On Thursday, Mount Royal will battle the University of Calgary Dinos at the ScotiaBank Saddledome. The Dinos sit two points ahead of the Cougars in the standings, but Mount Royal won the previous Dome matchups in the previous two years. The teams then battle Friday at the Flames Community Arena.

EDMONTON - The No.1 ranked University of Alberta Golden Bears volleyball team saw their undefeated season come to an end Saturday night with their first conference loss of the year to the No.5 ranked Winnipeg Wesmen in four sets (23-25, 15-25, 25-22, and 21-25). It was the first regular season loss for the Bears since February 7, 2014.

The Bears are now 15-1 on the season and remain atop the Canada West standings while Winnipeg is in a tie for second with Trinity Western at 12-4.

The Bears were led offensively by fourth-year outside hitter Ryley Barnes, who kept the Bears around all night with 14 kills. The CIS leader in assists, third-year setter Brett Walsh, added 40 more to his total to make it 672 on the season. He also had two solo blocks and two block assists to help out defensively. The Bears were led in digs by fourth-year right side Kevin Proudfoot with six.

The Wesmen, meanwhile, continued to get stronger as the game wore on and were led offensively for the second-straight night by fifth-year outside hitter Thomas Douglas-Powell who had a huge offensive game with 21 kills to lead Winnipeg. Joshua McKay had 45 assists for the Wesmen and Logan Brennan had a game-high seven digs.

The first set saw a quick start from the Bears as fourth-year outside Ryley Barnes had two big kills, both teams trading some early service errors in the set. Alberta led most of the set, getting a strong block from second-year middle Arran Chambers to make it 12-8 Bears, but Winnipeg replied with three straight points to draw back to 12-11. Kevin Proudfoot had a big kill from the outside to put Alberta ahead 16-14 at the technical timeout, but Winnipeg battled back again to tie it at 16. Taylor Arnett put it off the Wesmen block to give Alberta the lead back at 18-16 and Barnes hit it off a block and out to give Alberta a 19-16 lead. The Wesmen continued to keep things close, though, as Alberta was on the net to tie the set at 21 and Bears head coach Terry Danyluk tried to change momentum with his first timeout. A big serve from Thomas Douglas-Powell that the Bears were unable to keep in play made it 23-21 Winnipeg, but his next serve went long to make it 23-22 before a back row hit from Douglas-Powell made it 24-23 and the Wesmen then won the set off a nice finish off an Alberta block from outside hitter Adrian Dyck.

Alberta quickly got to it in the second set off a Proudfoot hit and a Winnipeg error, followed by a big stuff from Barnes on Douglas-Powell, making it 4-1 Bears early. A back row hit from David Bommersbach helped Winnipeg back within a point at 6-5, but a huge block from Barnes followed by a tip from Arnett and the Bears started to settle in to the set and went up 10-5. Brett Walsh then had a solo stuff on the outside to move the Bears ahead 13-7, which was followed by a Proudfoot kill and a Wesmen timeout at 14-7 Alberta. The Bears jumped ahead 18-11 on an Arnett finish from the middle and Nickifor followed up with a left side hit off the block as Alberta jumped up again 20-12, prompting a Winnipeg timeout. Arnett then crushed a hit off the Wesmen block making it 23-13 Bears. Chambers sent the Wesmen running again and made it 24-13 and Alberta finished the set when the Edmonton native scored again off the block to end it 25-15 Alberta.

The third set began quite evenly as the teams battled back and forth. Brett Walsh had a huge block to make it 7-6 Alberta before a sneaky tip over the Wesmen block by Barnes made it 8-6. Then, an ace from Nickifor continued the run to 9-6. Walsh had yet another block on a long ball to continue his solid net play and make it 10-8 Bears. Winnipeg battled back to tie it at 13 and then took the lead on a net violation at 14-13. A huge hit from Riley Delavu continued the Wesmen run to 17-13 and a kill from Matthew Dueck made it 20-15, followed by a hit off the Alberta block at 21-15. A Proudfoot hit kept Alberta in it at 22-17, but another kill by Dueck gave it back to the Wesmen and the Bears then put it off the net, making it 24-18. Barnes kept the Bears alive with a hit off the block to make it 24-20 Winnipeg. A Wesmen timeout couldn't stop the Bears either as Chambers and Proudfoot had successive blocks to make it 24-22, but Winnipeg would come away with the set off a Brendan Black finish, 25-22 Wesmen.

The Bears were not ready to give up their first loss of the season so soon though, as they came out swinging hard and often in the fourth. Barnes had two quick kills to help Alberta to a 5-3 lead. Winnipeg battled back to level things at five. Winnipeg would go on a run, jumping up 11-8 on the Bears after a long serve, but Barnes quickly responded with a kill and then a great serve, which forced the Wesmen right into a huge block by Chambers to make it 11-10 Wesmen. A short serve by Joshua McKay just crept over the net and the Wesmen continued to increase their lead to 15-11. The Bears got the deficit back down to three at 17-14 off a long hit from Winnipeg. Yet the Wesmen again kept pushing forward, forcing the final timeout from Terry Danyluk, down 20-15. Dueck powered the ball off a Bears block to make it 23-19 Wesmen and Douglas-Powell did the same a point later to give the Wesmen match point and they would finish it off with a kill by Brendan Black to give Winnipeg the set and the match 25-21.

The Golden Bears are on the road next weekend as they head to Winnipeg to take on the University of Manitoba Bisons, returning home to the SCSC on January 23-24 against the University of Regina Cougars. The Wesmen stay in the province in next weekend's action, heading south to contend with the Calgary Dinos. 

Source: Saskatchewan Sports Info

The Brandon University Bobcats staved off a University of Saskatchewan Huskies bid for a comeback to salvage a weekend sweep with a 3-1 (25-17, 25-19, 23-25, 25-20) win Saturday night at the PAC in Saskatoon.

Winning the first two sets quickly and efficiently – 25-17 and 25-19 – Brandon found itself in trouble in the third set.

Saskatchewan quickly built a 10-6 lead to open the third set. But Brandon was able to keep pace and tied the set at 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20 and 21 points. A Zak Rempel kill and a Paul Thomson and Tyler Epp block gave the Huskies a 23-21 lead. Although the Bobcats took the ball back, they couldn't string together a point run to hold off the Huskies' 25-23 win.

The Bobcats opened the fourth set with a 4-1 lead before the Huskies stormed back to tie the set at six. The lead changed hands three times with neither team gaining more than a three point cushion. A big kill by Sebastien Steigmeier that the Huskies couldn't dig up, followed by service ace put Brandon up by four at 22-18. Rempel and Epp held off the Bobcats with a block, but on the next play a Saskatchewan service error gave the Bobcats the 25-20 win.

With the win, Brandon improves to 12-4 on the season. Saskatchewan drops to 9-7. With just eight matches left in the Canada West men's volleyball season, just six points separate second through sixth.

Steigmeier powered Brandon to the victory recording a match-high 21 kills and eight digs. Sam Tuivai added another 15 kills and 11 digs for the Bobcats.

Jordan Nowakowski led the Huskies recording a double-double with 13 kills and 10 digs. Paul Thomson added another eight kills, while Matthew Busse tallied seven.

The Huskies travel to visit provincial rival the Regina Cougars next weekend, while the Bobcats return home to host the UBC Thunderbirds.