2017 U SPORTS FOG Men’s Volleyball Championship

Alan Hudes

Coordinator, Communications

U SPORTS

Off: 905-508-3000 ext. 242

Cell: 647-991-5343

Connor Hood

University of Alberta

Off: 780-492-7214

Cell: 780-935-6276

QF #2: 2017 U SPORTS FOG Men’s Volleyball Championship

McMaster holds off rallying laval, advances to semifinal

EDMONTON (U SPORTS) – No. 5-seeded McMaster held off hard-charging No. 4 Laval with a 17-15 win in the fifth set to advance to the semifinal of the 2017 U SPORTS FOG Men’s Volleyball Championship at the Saville Community Sports Centre on Friday.

CHAMPIONSHIP WEBSITE: http://en.usports.ca/championships/mvball/index

McMaster hit the gas pedal and went up 2-0, before needing a rally of their own in the fifth set to close out Laval 3-2 (25-16, 25-11, 23-25, 19-25, 17-15).

“First off, Laval played outstanding,” said McMaster head coach Dave Preston. “They’re so well prepared. I was very happy with the job we did in the first two sets. I thought we stuck to exactly what we saw on film and did exactly what we wanted to do.

“They made some adjustments and it took a while for us to respond. I thought we did a really good job down the stretch in the fifth of squashing that momentum Laval had a little bit and I thought we played much, much better in the fifth than we did in the third and fourth.”

Brandon Koppers led the Marauders with 21 kills on Friday, while Vicente Igancio Parraguirre Villalobos led the Rogue et Or with 18 kills; Gabriel Araya Menares and Hugo Leger – huge in the middle for the Rouge et Or – chipped in 12 and 11, respectively.

The Marauders’ victory sets up a rematch of the 2016 national final, when they’ll take on defending champion Trinity Western in the second semifinal on Saturday at 8 p.m.

“It’s great,” said big McMaster’s towering outside hitter Jayson McCarthy, whose team lost 3-1 to the Spartans a year ago. “They’re a great serving, great blocking, great passing team. I love the matchup. They have nice big left sides and I’ll try to challenge them. I think it’s going to be a really good game.”

As hyped as that one will be, it might not end up topping what fans just witnessed on Friday afternoon. McMaster looked to be in complete control early in the match, but it ended up turning into an epic battle of two fired up teams.

Despite being on the ropes after a deflating 14-point defeat in a second set they were never really in, Laval showed a hero’s courage in refusing to wilt.

“We played a volleyball game where we did not at the beginning,” summed up Laval head coach Pascal Clément of the turnaround that saw them take the next two sets. “We were intimidated and a little shy to play against a big team.’

“I told the guys in the third set that it’s not going to be easy, but we’ve got to take it one by one,” he continued. “We have to at least fight, to present ourselves as a good team – the Rouge et Or. If we lose, at least we’ll lose by playing well at the end.

“We mixed our lineup. We changed some players in the rotation and it balanced our offence a little bit more. I think Vincent (Thibault-Bernier) dug lots of good balls and that inspired our team. It picked up the guys and we put pressure on them.”

Laval refused to die, discovering some jam early in the third set, taking a 3-0 lead and holding a slim advantage nearly all the way through. McMaster, however, clawed back behind their terrific block defence and managed to tie the set 23-23. The Rouge et Or put it away when Parraguirre Villalobos launched a massive left-side kill.

McMaster struggled with poor passing in the fourth set, culminating in an overbump and golden opportunity that Gabriel Araya Menares drooled over before slamming it untouched to the floor. A point later, the set ended on a missed serve.

Preston switched back and forth between setters Andrew Kocur and David Doty in an attempt to find the right attack combination.

“You switch an outside hitter, you switch one spot, you switch a setter, you switch all five,” he explained. “They had a lot of momentum.”

“For us to make one change would have done a little bit of good, but if you change a setter you can change a lot. I thought we did a pretty good job. David coming into the fourth, we got some momentum back, so I was pleased with that.”

Led by Danny Demyanenko’s six blocks, McMaster’s block defence proved to be the difference at several stages of the match. They wound up winning the net battle 19-9, which was a big key in overcoming some passing challenges.

The Marauders trailed most of the fifth set and it looked to be going the Rouge et Or’s way when Frederic Bolduc painted the back line for an ace that brought Laval within a point of victory at 14-12. But McMaster’s U SPORTS FirstTeam All-Star Demyanenko drew the teams even at 14 on a quick hitter up the middle.

After a couple of traded kills and a Laval miss, Koppers ended it with a smash off the block from the left side.

“I’m very sorry for the guys,” said Clément. “In sport, you don’t deserve to win, you have to earn your points. But emotionally, I have to say we deserved to win that match by the end, but there were a few points there that we missed and we lost patience.”

STAT LEADERS

Complete Stats: http://en.usports.ca/championships/mvball/2017/boxscores_champ/20170317_9933.xml

McMaster

Kills: Brandon Koppers, 21

Points: Brandon Koppers, 22

Blocks: Danny Demyanenko, 6

Digs: Jayson McCarthy, 11

Service aces: Jayson McCarthy, 2

Player of the match: Jayson McCarthy

Laval

Kills: Vicente Ignacio Parraguirre Villalobos, 18

Points: Vicente Ignacio Parraguirre Villalobos, 18.5

Blocks: Hugo Leger, 2.5

Digs: Vincent Thibault-Bernier, 12

Service aces: Three with one

Player of the match: Gabriel Araya Menares

CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE & RESULTS (All times MT)

Thursday, March 17

1:00 p.m. Quarter-final #1: Trinity Western 3, Waterloo 0

2:30 p.m. Quarter-final #2: McMaster 3, Laval 2

6:30 p.m. Quarter-final #3: Manitoba vs. Alberta (USPORTS.LIVE)

8:00 p.m. Quarter-final #4: UBC vs. UNB (USPORTS.LIVE)

Friday, March 18

1:00 p.m. Consolation #1: Waterloo vs. Laval (USPORTS.LIVE)

2:30 p.m. Consolation #2: Loser QF #3 vs. Loser QF #4 (TBD) (USPORTS.LIVE)

6:30 p.m. Semifinal #1: Winner QF #3 vs. Winner QF #4 (USPORTS.LIVE)

8:00 p.m. Semifinal #2: Trinity Western vs. McMaster (USPORTS.LIVE)

Saturday, March 19

12:00 p.m. 5th place (TBD) (USPORTS.LIVE)

3:00 p.m. Bronze medal (TBD) (USPORTS.LIVE)

6:00 p.m. Championship final (TBD) (USPORTS.LIVE)

About U SPORTS

Twitter: @USPORTSca

Facebook: @USPORTSCanada

YouTube: @USPORTSca

Instagram: @USPORTSca

Snapchat: @USPORTSca

For further information, please contact:

Ken Saint-Eloy

Manager, Communications

U SPORTS

Cell: 647-871-7595

Alan Hudes

Coordinator, Communications

U SPORTS

Off: 905-508-3000 ext. 242

Cell: 647-991-5343

Connor Hood

University of Alberta

Off: 780-492-7214

Cell: 780-935-6276

QF#3: 2017 U SPORTS FOG Men’s Volleyball Championship 

Host Golden Bears knock off Bisons in four

EDMONTON (U SPORTS) – The host, and No. 7 seed University of Alberta Golden Bears took out their Canada West foe, No. 2 ranked Manitoba Bisons 3-1 (25-18, 23-25, 25-21, 25-16) in the third quarter-final of the 2017 U SPORTS FOG Men’s Volleyball Championship, Friday night at the Saville Community Sports Centre.

CHAMPIONSHIP WEBSITE: http://en.usports.ca/championships/mvball/index

The win sends the Golden Bears to their fourth straight national championship semifinal, and guarantees the host will play for a medal on their home court. They will await the winner of quarter-final #4 between the No. 3 UBC Thunderbirds and No.6 UNB Varsity Reds. Manitoba, meanwhile, is relegated to the consolation side, and will play the loser of said match.

Fifth-years Ryan Nickifor and Taylor Arnett led the Bears with 15 kills each, while Arnett added 3.5 blocks, four digs and three aces to be named Alberta’s Player of the Match.

“Our coaches challenged us to lay it out on the line.” said the fifth-year middle. “This is my last year, and that is exactly what I did. I just wanted to keep playing. (The crowd) is unbelievable, I heard stories about the last time we hosted, and how the loud the crowd would be. It’s just so awesome to see so much green and gold out here. Every time we get a point, everyone was on their feet.”

Devren Dear paced Manitoba with a game-high 16 kills on 42 attempts, adding four digs, but also committed nine attack errors on Friday. Manitoba was plagued by inconsistent offence, totalling 26 errors.

“Well I don’t think we performed very well, our serving pressure was very weak today. Our spike servers didn’t do a good job.” said a disappointed Garth Pischke, head coach of the Bisons. “If you do that against a team like Alberta, with their middle attack, as everybody saw, they killed us in the middle. We needed way more serving pressure to take a part of that game away from them.”

Despite being ranked five spots lower than Manitoba in the championship, the Golden Bears were ranked near the top of the U SPORTS Top 10 all year long, and showed that pedigree in the first. The win is also the first for Alberta this season against their Canada West foe.

“I thought we did all the little things we needed to do. We blocked well, knowing they were going to be a predominantly outside hitting team, which they were.” said Alberta bench boss Terry Danyluk. “We did a good job of serving them, and forcing them to do that. I thought we did a good job at serving and passing today, which at this level is the key to the game.”

Thanks to a pair of kills from Arnett, the Bears jumped out to a quick 4-2 lead. Arnett continued to pace the Alberta attack in the first, as he and Nickifor led after one set with four kills each.

Another 5-2 run by the tournament host gave them complete control in the first. The Bears were able to take advantage of an efficient first, and the thunderous support of the home crowd, scoring 13 kills on just 24 attacks, while Manitoba struggled with eight on 21, adding five errors.

The momentum earned in the first, as well as the support of the 2,000 fans, propelled Alberta to a 7-4 lead in the second. Another kill by Nickifor gave the No. 7 seed a lead of as many as seven midway through the set. However, the Canada West silver medalist Bisons returned to form in the second, ripping off a 13-6 run, evening the set at 21. Six kills from Dear, as well as two from each Dustin Spring and Adam DeJonckheere levelled the match at 1-1 with a 25-23 Bisons win.

The intense back and forth match didn’t let up whatsoever in the third, as this time it was Alberta who went on a 10-3 run to open the third. Powered by 10 kills (four from Nickifor) and seven blocks, Alberta looked in control at 17-12. Another late-set surge, however, gave Manitoba life, as a Ken Rooney kill cut the deficit to 21-18. Two kills from Alex McMullin late pushed Alberta over the top at 25-21.

Alberta’s offence, which had been stellar through three, was absolutely lethal in the fourth, as a staggering 67 per cent attack efficiency gave them the set 25-16, and the match. The Bears, thanks to four more from Nickifor and three from McMullin, spun in 13 fourth-set kills, while committing just one attack error.

“We were just more consistent. I thought we had moments against Trinity Western last weekend in the conference semi were we played similar, but we didn’t sustain it for a full match,” continued Danyluk. “Today we did that.”

The semifinal between Alberta and UBC/UNB is set for 6:30 p.m. at the Saville Community Sports Centre in Edmonton, and online at USPORTS.LIVE.

STAT LEADERS

Complete Stats: http://en.usports.ca/championships/mvball/2017/boxscores_champ/20170317_lyr6.xml

Manitoba

Kills: Devren Dear (16)

Points: Devren Dear (17)

Blocks: Dustin Spring (2.5)

Digs: Luke Herr (6)

Service aces: Ken Rooney and Adam DeJonckheere (1)

Player of the match: Devren Dear  

Alberta

Kills: Ryan Nickifor and Taylor Arnett (15)

Points: Taylor Arnett (21.5)

Blocks: George Hobern (4)

Digs: Kevin Proudfoot (11)

Service aces: George Hobern (5)

Player of the match: Taylor Arnett

SCHEDULE & RESULTS (All times MT)

Friday, March 17

1:00 p.m. QF 1: No 1 Trinity Western 3 vs. No 8 Waterloo 0 (25-18, 25-15, 25-23)

2:30 p.m. QF 2: No 5 McMaster 3 vs. No 4 Laval 2 (25-16, 25-11, 23-25, 19-25, 17-15)

6:30 p.m. Quarter-final #3: No.2 Manitoba vs. No. 7 Alberta (18-25, 25-23, 21-25, 16-25)

8:00 p.m. Quarter-final #4: No.3 UBC vs No.6 UNB (USPORTS.LIVE)

Saturday, March 18

1:00 p.m. Consolation #1: #8 Waterloo vs #4 Laval (USPORTS.LIVE)

2:30 p.m. Consolation #2: #2 Manitoba vs. Loser QF #4 (USPORTS.LIVE)

6:30 p.m. Semifinal #1: #7 Alberta vs. Winner QF #4 (USPORTS.LIVE)

8:00 p.m. Semifinal #2: #1 Trinity Western vs. #5 McMaster (USPORTS.LIVE)

Sunday, March 19

12:00 p.m. 5th place (USPORTS.LIVE)

3:00 p.m. Bronze medal (USPORTS.LIVE)

6:00 p.m. Championship final (USPORTS.LIVE)

About U SPORTS

Twitter: @USPORTSca

 Facebook: @USPORTSCanada 

YouTube: @USPORTSca

Instagram: @USPORTSca

Snapchat: @USPORTSca

For further information, please contact:

Ken Saint-Eloy

Manager, Communications

U SPORTS

Cell: 647-871-7595

Alan Hudes

Coordinator, Communications

U SPORTS

Off: 905-508-3000 ext. 242

Cell: 647-991-5343

Connor Hood

University of Alberta

Off: 780-492-7214

Cell: 780-935-6276

QF#4: 2017 U SPORTS FOG Men’s Volleyball Championship
UBC needs four sets to take out UNB

EDMONTON (U SPORTS) – Fourth-year outside hitter Irvan Brar finished with a tournament-high 26 kills, leading the No. 3 UBC Thunderbirds to a four-set quarter-final win (25-22, 25-20, 22-25, 25-17) over the No. 6 UNB Varsity Reds, Friday night at the Saville Community Sports Centre.

CHAMPIONSHIP WEBSITE: http://en.usports.ca/championships/mvball/index

The win sends the Thunderbirds to the semifinal of the 2017 U SPORTS FOG Men’s Volleyball Championship, and a meeting with the host, and seventh-seeded Alberta Golden Bears. UNB, meanwhile, will fall into the consolation bracket, and will take on the No. 2 Manitoba Bisons tomorrow afternoon.

Along with Brar’s 26 kills, UBC received contributions from Cam Fennema (15 kills, one dig), and Byron Keturakis (game-high 52 assists, two aces). Brar also added two digs, and was named UBC Player of the Match.

Eivind Andersen led the Varsity Reds with 17 kills, also chipping in with a game-high 11 digs, and was the UNB Player of the Match.

“I thought we were good at times tonight. I don’t think we served as well as we normally do, and our serve receive also wasn’t as crisp. But, it is the first match at nationals – we got some of those jitters out, we are getting more and more comfortable playing in this facility,” said UBC head coach Kerry MacDonald. “I expect both of those aspects of our game to be a little better tomorrow.”

Brar was absolutely lethal in the opening set, ripping in 10 kills on a staggering 18 attempts, while Fennema added four.

“Irvan has been a consummate leader for us,” continued MacDonald. “He does that on the regular. He’s the kind of guy who rises to the occasion, and he did it again tonight.”

Despite being the heavy underdog on Friday, UNB kept the first set tight, earning a solid 13 kills on 29 attempts. But the effort from Brar was too much to overcome, as UBC took the first set 25-22.

“I thought we played at a pretty good level. Do I think we played our best ball? No. At times we played a very efficient game, and the blocks were fairly even between both teams,” UNB coach Dan McMorran commented after the game. “I thought we played at a pretty good level, but our defence needed to make a few more dig at a few key times. They are a good blocking team, so when we are out of system, we are hitting against a very big team. All in all, we are disappointed, we aren’t playing in the semifinal, but I thought it was a pretty good level of (volleyball) for fans tonight.”

That level from UNB was evident early in the second, as they raced out to a surprising 8-1 lead. Despite three kills from Andersen, the Varsity Reds couldn’t maintain their strong offence in the second, eventually falling 25-20. Eight attack errors, to go along with a -0.45 attack percentage, and six more kills from Brar contributed to the set win for UBC.

The teams played incredibly even volleyball in the third, exchanging massive back-row attacks. Andersen added seven kills to his total, while Sam Alves chipped in four in a set that saw 13 ties. The sixth-seeded Varsity Reds improved their attack by over 600 points in the third, as they clawed their way to a scrappy 25-22 win.

However, the high-flying Thunderbirds were too much for UNB to overcome, falling in the fourth set. UBC’s defence also played a massive role in the fourth set, scoring on three blocks, while limiting UNB to just nine fourth-set kills. UBC finished with 65 kills on Friday to UNB’s 48.

UBC will now face a familiar foe in the national semifinal, and the same team they met in last week’s Canada West bronze medal match. UBC was able to capture the conference medal with a deceive 3-0 win at Manitoba , in their second win over Alberta this season.

“We played them last week, and were successful.” continued MacDonald. “We are definitely going to have to go back and look and see what we did well that night, and build off of that. They are a great team and I am expecting a great match.”

First serve of the first semifinal is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. MT tomorrow night at the Saville Community Sports Centre, and on USPORTS.LIVE.

STAT LEADERS

Complete Stats: http://en.usports.ca/championships/mvball/2017/championship

UBC
Kills: Irvan Brar (26)
Points: Irvan Brar (28)
Blocks: Byron Keturakis (3)
Digs: Mat Guidi (7)
Service aces: Joel Regehr (4)

Player of the Match: Irvan Brar.

UNB
Kills: Eivind Anderson (17)
Points: Eivind Anderson (19)
Blocks: Tristen Burridge and Elliot Allison (3)
Digs: Eivind Andersed (11)
Service aces: Tristen Burridge (2)

Player of the Match: Eivind Andersen

SCHEDULE & RESULTS (All times MT)

Friday, March 17
1:00 p.m. QF 1: No 1 Trinity Western 3 vs. No 8 Waterloo 0 (25-18, 25-15, 25-23)
2:30 p.m. QF 2: No 5 McMaster 3 vs. No 4 Laval 2 (25-16, 25-11, 23-25, 19-25, 17-15)
6:30 p.m. QF 3: No.2 Manitoba 1 vs. No. 7 Alberta 3 (18-25, 25-23, 21-25, 16-25)
8:00 p.m. QF 4: No.3 UBC 3 vs No.6 UNB 1 (25-22, 25-20, 22-25, 25-17)

Saturday, March 18
1:00 p.m. Consolation #1: #8 Waterloo vs #4 Laval (USPORTS.LIVE)
2:30 p.m. Consolation #2: #2 Manitoba vs. #6 UNB (USPORTS.LIVE)
6:30 p.m. Semifinal #1: #7 Alberta vs. #3 UBC (USPORTS.LIVE)
8:00 p.m. Semifinal #2: #1 Trinity Western vs. #5 McMaster (USPORTS.LIVE)

Sunday, March 19
12:00 p.m. 5th place (USPORTS.LIVE)
3:00 p.m. Bronze medal (USPORTS.LIVE)
6:00 p.m. Championship final (USPORTS.LIVE)

About U SPORTS

Twitter: @USPORTSca

 Facebook: @USPORTSCanada 

YouTube: @USPORTSca

Instagram: @USPORTSca

Snapchat: @USPORTSca

For further information, please contact:

Ken Saint-Eloy

Manager, Communications

U SPORTS

Cell: 647-871-7595

Alan Hudes

Coordinator, Communications

U SPORTS

Off: 905-508-3000 ext. 242

Cell: 647-991-5343

Connor Hood

University of Alberta

Off: 780-492-7214

Cell: 780-935-6276

CSF#2: 2017 U SPORTS FOG Men’s Volleyball Championship

 Manitoba joins Laval in Consolation Final

EDMONTON (U SPORTS) – Once the top-ranked team in the country, the Manitoba Bisons regrouped after a devastating opening-round loss to host Alberta and advanced to the consolation final at the 2017 U SPORTS FOG Men’s Volleyball Championship with a straight-sets win over the UNB Varsity Reds, Saturday at the Saville Community Sports Centre.

CHAMPIONSHIP WEBSITE: http://en.usports.ca/championships/mvball/index

The Bisons rolled to a fairly comfortable 3-0 win over UNB (25-20, 25-15, 25-22) that punches their ticket to Sunday’s consolation final, set for 12:00 p.m. MST against Laval.

Devren Dear led the Bisons with 13 kills and seven digs, while Ken Rooney’s 2.5 blocks were a game high. Evan Jackson, who has been the Bisons’ most dominant player at times this season, had nine kills, while Adam DeJonckheere chipped in eight and a game-high four service aces.

Eivind Andersen topped UNB’s output with 12 kills, while their own big No. 14 in the middle, Elliott Allison posted 2.5 blocks. Setter Mathieu Losier was named Player of the Match for the Varsity Reds after 27 assists.

With seven fifth-year seniors, the Bisons had championship aspirations all season after rolling to a 21-3 regular season record in the Canada West Conference.

When that dream fell off the rails with a 3-1 defeat in front of a raucous home Alberta crowd at the Saville Centre on Friday, head coach Garth Pischke didn’t know what to expect.

“It’s really tough. I had no idea how we were going to come out in this game,” he said of playing for the right to advance to the fifth-place game.

“I was hoping they would show a little bit of pride and pride in themselves as a team. Each guy, rather than just going out and playing hard, now they’re playing for their teammates and respect. We were relaxed,” said Pischke. “That allowed us to let the game flow and maybe be one or two plays ahead, rather than panicking in each situation. I thought we were a lot tenser last night.”

The Varsity Reds, champions of the AUS after a 9-8 regular season, suffered their own disappointment on Friday, falling in the first round for the third-straight year, this time to UBC.

“It’s very difficult, but there are no slouches at this tournament this year,” said head coach Dan McMorran, whose squad lost in five to Saskatchewan a year ago, despite leading 2-0. “It’s probably the deepest field it’s been in a number of years.”

“We know every game’s going to be a battle. If you have your ‘A’ game, there’s a good chance you’re going to be competitive. If you’re not there, there’s a good chance you’re going to lose them.”

That summed up Saturday’s loss for UNB, too. They were unable to take advantage of the glimmers of hope Manitoba offered in a match they more or less controlled from start to finish.

“We’re disappointed, for sure,” said McMorran. “We knew we were coming out and playing a very strong Manitoba team.

“There were times we had a couple point lead and made a couple unforced errors there. Our leads dissipated pretty quickly,” he added. “There were times we were down a couple points and battled back, but once again weren’t able to be consistent enough at those stages.”

UNB had some success early in the first set, but the Bisons eventually had too much, zooming out of a close match at the technical timeout, winning it when Dustin Spiring slammed down an over-bump in the middle.

Dear held court for six-straight serves late in the second set as he mixed in a couple of aces with some great work in the middle by Rooney, the Bisons Player of the Match. The 6-foot-4 fifth-year had two big blocks before ending the set with a kill from backup setter Caleb Konrad, sent into the match just for that play.

“I think our passing was pretty strong. It allowed us to run the offence,” said Rooney, mostly receiving passes from starting setter Luke Herr, who had a game-high 34 assists.

“We were putting them in some trouble on the serve, as well, allowing us to block some balls. I think that’s probably the match right there in a nutshell. We serve and received a bit better than they did. Most of the time you’ll win games when you do that.”

UNB had no answer for Dear on the right side in the third set as it seemed anytime Manitoba needed a point they went to their U SPORTS first team all-star. The Varsity Reds hung around, though, catching up off some success from the right side themselves with hard-hitting Andersen. Manitoba put it away when Andersen’s last-gasp kill attempt went long.

STAT LEADERS

Complete Stats: http://en.usports.ca/championships/mvball/2017/boxscores_champ/20170318_ltqd.xml

Manitoba

Kills: Devren Dear, 13

Points: Devren Dear, 16

Blocks: Ken Rooney, 2.5

Digs: Devren Dear, 7

Service aces: Adam DeJonckheere, 4

Player of the match: Ken Rooney

UNB

Kills: Eivind Andersen, 12

Points: Eivind Andersen, 12.5

Blocks: Elliott Allison, 2.5

Digs: Mathieu Losier, 6

Service aces: Tristen Burridge, Connor McConnell, 1

Player of the match: Mathieu Losier

CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE & RESULTS (All times MT)

Thursday, March 17

1:00 p.m. Quarter-final #1: Trinity Western 3, Waterloo 0

2:30 p.m. Quarter-final #2: McMaster 3, Laval 2

6:30 p.m. Quarter-final #3: Alberta 3, Manitoba 1

8:00 p.m. Quarter-final #4: UBC 3, UNB 1

Friday, March 18

1:00 p.m. Consolation #1: Laval 3, Waterloo 0

2:30 p.m. Consolation #2: Manitoba 3, UNB 0

6:30 p.m. Semifinal #1: Alberta vs. UBC (USPORTS.LIVE)

8:00 p.m. Semifinal #2: Trinity Western vs. McMaster (USPORTS.LIVE)

Saturday, March 19

12:00 p.m. 5th place: Laval vs. Manitoba (USPORTS.LIVE)

3:00 p.m. Bronze medal (TBD) (USPORTS.LIVE)

6:00 p.m. Championship final (TBD) (USPORTS.LIVE)

About U SPORTS

Twitter: @USPORTSca

Facebook: @USPORTSCanada

YouTube: @USPORTSca

Instagram: @USPORTSca

Snapchat: @USPORTSca

For further information, please contact:

Ken Saint-Eloy

Manager, Communications

U SPORTS

Cell: 647-871-7595

Alan Hudes

Coordinator, Communications

U SPORTS

Off: 905-508-3000 ext. 242

Cell: 647-991-5343

Connor Hood

University of Alberta

Off: 780-492-7214

Cell: 780-935-6276

SF#1: 2017 U SPORTS FOG Men’s Volleyball Championship: 

Golden Bears advance to national final after five-set win over UBC

EDMONTON (U SPORTS) – The host University of Alberta Golden Bears will advance to the final of the 2017 U SPORTS FOG Men’s Volleyball Championship, as they defeated the UBC Thunderbirds in a five-set thriller (25-23, 25-15, 20-25, 20-25, 15-11), Saturday night at the Saville Community Sports Centre.

CHAMPIONSHIP WEBSITE: http://en.usports.ca/championships/mvball/index

In a game that featured massive momentum swings, a thunderous home crowd, and two of the best teams in U SPORTS men’s volleyball, Saturday’s semifinal will go down as an instant classic. Alberta will now advance to their third national final in four seasons, after winning the U SPORTS championship in 2014 and 2015. This is also the secondconsecutive time the Bears will play in the final as the tournament host, winning the title in 2009 at the University of Alberta’s main gymnasium.

“The last few times we played UBC, they found a way to get our number. They got good performances out of (Matt) Guidi today. I thought their right side was good today, he had great vision. But I thought we did a good job on the rest of their team tonight.”  

The Bears will play the winner of the second semifinal, between the No.1 Trinity Western Spartans and No.5 McMaster Mauraders at 6:00 p.m. MST.

UBC, meanwhile, will play for national bronze tomorrow at 3:00 p.m. MST.

“Our guys showed a lot of heart, and a lot of character tonight. Something that our group has done all season, honestly I’m really not surprised,” said UBC head coach Kerry MacDonald after the heartbreaking loss. “I’m just really proud of what they did. Unfortunately the comeback fell a bit short in the fifth. That’s a phenomenal team on the other side of the net. Respect to them, they deserved that win.”

Fifth-year Golden Bears outside hitter Ryan Nickifor finished with a game-high 22 kills, adding eight digs and three block assists, earning the Alberta Player of the Match.

“It’s just one of those matches where you have to come out and swing away. It was a great battle. You can’t back down, you have to be willing to go for every ball,” said the veteran Bear. “I think that was exactly the mentality we had. You don’t want to play not to lose, you want to play to win that kind of game.”

“I thought Ryan stepped up. He hit out of all three zones on the court,” said Alberta head coach Terry Danyluk on Nickifor. “He hung in there on serve receive, I’d like to see his spin serve go off a little bit more, but for the most part he did a lot offensively for us, he carried a lot of the weight.”

Matt Guidi paced the Thunderbirds with 16 kills on 31 attempts, earning UBC’s Player of the Match.

The Golden Bears turned to Nickifor early and often on Saturday, as he spun in six kills in the opening set, and another four in the second. The Golden Bears took an incredibly tight first set 25-23.

In textbook Golden Bears fahion, a large part of their win was based off the play of their middles. Alberta finished the night with five solo blocks and a staggering 24 block assists, while the T-Birds managed just four and four, respectively.

That middle dominance was prevalent in the second, as Alberta completely stuffed the ‘Birds attack with five second-set blocks. UBC’s star hitter, Irvan Brar, who set a tournament-high with 26 kills in their quarter-final win, was held in check in the first two sets, totalling just seven kills on 18 attempts.

UBC got back into the match in the third, taking it 25-20. Based largely off their surging defence, limiting Alberta to just eight kills, as well as four kills from Guidi and two from Brar, UBC took the third.

The fourth was a carbon-copy of the third, as UBC took the set 25-20 again. Nickifor kept the Bears in for a majority of the set, adding six of his 22 kills in the fourth. However, another five combined kills from Guidi and Brar, as well as two from Cam Fennema pushed UBC over the top.

While it seemed that momentum and switched into UBC’s favour, the Golden Bears stormed out the in the fifth with leads of 4-2 and 9-6. A 5-2 run late gave Alberta compete control, with a Brar attack error sealing the 15-11 fifth-set win.

The Golden Bears aim for their ninth U SPORTS title tomorrow, with the gold medal match getting underway at 6:00 p.m. MST at the Saville Community Sports Centre.

STAT LEADERS

Complete Stats: http://en.usports.ca/championships/mvball/2017/boxscores_champ/20170318_0vbo.xml

UBC

Kills: Matt Guidi (16)

Points: Matt Guidi (16.5)

Blocks: Jordan Deshane (3)

Digs: Mat Guidi (12)

Service aces: Jordan Deshane (3)

Player of the match: Matt Guidi

Alberta

Kills: Ryan Nickifor (22)

Points: Ryan Nickifor (24.5)

Blocks: George Hobern (6)

Digs: Brett Walsh (10)

Service aces: Brett Walsh (3)

Player of the match: Ryan Nickifor

SCHEDULE & RESULTS (All times MT)

Friday, March 17

1:00 p.m. QF 1: No 1 Trinity Western 3 vs. No 8 Waterloo 0 (25-18, 25-15, 25-23)

2:30 p.m. QF 2: No 5 McMaster 3 vs. No 4 Laval 2 (25-16, 25-11, 23-25, 19-25, 17-15)

6:30 p.m. QF 3: No.2 Manitoba 1 vs. No. 7 Alberta 3 (18-25, 25-23, 21-25, 16-25)

8:00 p.m. QF 4: No.3 UBC 3 vs No.6 UNB 1 (25-22, 25-20, 22-25, 25-17)

Saturday, March 18

1:00 p.m. Consolation #1: #4 Laval 3 vs #8 Waterloo 0 (25-22, 25-19, 25-17)

2:30 p.m. Consolation #2: #2 Manitoba 3 vs. #6 UNB 0 (25-20, 25-15, 25-22)

6:30 p.m. Semifinal #1: #7 Alberta 3 vs. #3 UBC 0 (25-23, 25-15, 20-25, 20-25, 15-11)

8:00 p.m. Semifinal #2: #1 Trinity Western vs. #5 McMaster (USPORTS.LIVE)

Sunday, March 19

12:00 p.m. 5th place (USPORTS.LIVE)

3:00 p.m. Bronze medal (USPORTS.LIVE)

6:00 p.m. Championship final (USPORTS.LIVE)

About U SPORTS

Twitter: @USPORTSca

 Facebook: @USPORTSCanada 

YouTube: @USPORTSca

Instagram: @USPORTSca

Snapchat: @USPORTSca

For further information, please contact:

Ken Saint-Eloy

Manager, Communications

U SPORTS

Cell: 647-871-7595

Alan Hudes

Coordinator, Communications

U SPORTS

Off: 905-508-3000 ext. 242

Cell: 647-991-5343

Connor Hood

University of Alberta

Off: 780-492-7214

Cell: 780-935-6276

SF#2: 2017 U SPORTS FOG Men’s Volleyball Championship
Trinity Western joins host Alberta in Sunday’s final

EDMONTON (U SPORTS) – The top-seeded Trinity Western Spartans are headed back the U SPORTS Championship final after knocking off the No. 5 McMaster Marauders 3-1 (23-25, 25-14, 25-17, 25-21) in the 2017 U SPORTS FOG Men’s Volleyball Championship semifinal, Saturday night at Saville Community Sports Centre.

CHAMPIONSHIP WEBSITE: http://en.usports.ca/championships/mvball/index

With the win, the Spartans will have the chance to defend their 2016 national title on Sunday, as they battle the host Alberta Golden Bears. The two Canada West powerhouses have combined for each of the past three championships, with Alberta winning in 2014 and 2015. Sunday’s final will also be a rematch of the 2015 U SPORTS Championship final, which the Golden Bears won in three sets.

Saturday’s semifinal win for Trinity Western was also the second straight four-set win over McMaster in the national championship, following the 3-1 win over the Marauders in the 2016 final.

Also identical was Trinity dropping the first set, before running off three straight set wins.

“I thought that was a really interesting game, between a couple staffs that were really trying to figure each other out. It was kind of a heavyweight bout, and neither team wanted to throw the first big punch, and risk making a mistake,” said Spartans bench boss Ben Josephson. “It kind of had a feeling out process in the first. You could see both teams had a lot prepared for this match. I think slowly the intensity and pace started to pick up in the second. It was a pretty athletic match, I thought their defence in the middle part of the match was as good as I’ve seen anyone defend us.”

Fifth-year outside hitter, and 2017 U SPORTS Player of the Year Ryan Sclater once again paced the juggernaut Spartans, finishing with a game-high 19 kills, adding five digs and three block assists. His efforts earned him the Trinity Wester Player of the Match.

“Unfortunately tomorrow is his last game. I’m going to miss seeing him perform like that,” said Josephson of Sclater. “Not only was he making plays, but also the way the senior leader was making those plays and rallying the troops. We are going to miss that so much.”

Brandon Koppers and Jayson McCarthy led McMaster with 14 kills each, while U SPORTS First Team All-Canadian Danny Demyanenko had seven kills and three total blocks. The loss is just the first of the season for McMaster, who went through the OUA conference undefeated.

“I thought we battled really hard, I never questioned our effort,” said a visibly upset Dave Preston, head coach of McMaster following the match. “Fundamentally we weren’t sound enough, we missed 22 per cent of our serves, we made 17 service errors. And they put us under a tremendous amount of pressure from the service line. Fundamentally we weren’t good enough, but our compete level was very high, and I’m proud of that.”

That poor serving was on display in the first, however it came from both teams with 11 combined service errors. McMaster was able to overcome that deficiency, thanks in large part to six kills from each McCarthy and Koppers, taking the set 25-23.

McMaster’s troubles from the line, coupled with a Trinity’s offence rounding into form, saw a clinical Spartans win in the second. Five McMaster attack errors, two more from the service line, as well as five kills from Sclater saw Trinity Western dispatch the Marauders quickly 25-14.

The lethal Spartans attack hit another level in the third, as they scored 13 kills on just 29 attempts, without committing single offensive error. Slater added five more, including a pair of back-row bombs, while Blake Scheerhoorn chipped in three of his own.

The OUA Champion Marauders showed their fight in the fourth, holding a lead of 15-12. However, three kills from Aaron Boettcher and one more from Sclater powered a late 7-1 Spartans run and a 25-21 fourth-set win.

The 2017 U SPORTS FOG Men’s Volleyball Championship match will get underway at 6:00 p.m. at the Saville Community Sports Centre in Edmonton, as both the Spartans and Golden Bears aim to cement their dynasty in U SPORTS men’s volleyball.

“We trained for a whole year just to get back to this game. Man, it was fun to win. And I think everyone wants to win it again because it as so much fun to share with our friends and family,” said Josephson ahead of Sunday’s final. “The Bears are going to feel that pressure too. They want to win at home, and share that with their friends and family. It should be a classic”

STAT LEADERS

Complete Stats: http://en.usports.ca/championships/mvball/2017/championship

Trinity Western
Kills: Ryan Sclater (19)
Points: Ryan Sclater (20.5)
Blocks: Aaron Boettcher (3)
Digs: Carter Bergen (14)
Service aces: Eric Loeppky and Aaron Boettcher (2)

Player of the match: Ryan Sclater

McMaster
Kills: Jayson McCarthy and Brandon Koppers (14)
Points: Jayson McCarthy (15)
Blocks: Danny Demyanenko (3)
Digs: Jayson McCarthy (7)
Service aces: Craig Ireland (1)

Player of the match: Brandon Koppers

SCHEDULE & RESULTS (All times MT)

Saturday, March 18
1:00 p.m. Consolation #1: No. 4 Laval 3 vs No. 8 Waterloo 0 (25-22, 25-19, 25-17)
2:30 p.m. Consolation #2: No, 2 Manitoba 3 vs. No. 6 UNB 0 (25-20, 25-15, 25-22)
6:30 p.m. Semifinal #1: No. 7 Alberta 3 vs. No. 3 UBC 2 (25-23, 25-15, 20-25, 20-25, 15-11)
8:00 p.m. Semifinal #2: No. 1 Trinity Western 3 vs. No. 5 McMaster 1 (23-25, 25-14, 25-17, 25-21)

Sunday, March 19
12:00 p.m. 5th place: No. 4 Laval vs No. 2 Manitoba (USPORTS.LIVE)
3:00 p.m. No. 3 UBC vs No. 5 McMaster (USPORTS.LIVE)
6:00 p.m. No. 1 Trinity Western vs No. 7 Alberta (USPORTS.LIVE)

About U SPORTS

Twitter: @USPORTSca
Facebook: @USPORTSCanada
YouTube: @USPORTSca
Instagram: @USPORTSca
Snapchat: @USPORTSca

For further information, please contact:

Ken Saint-Eloy
Manager, Communications
U SPORTS
Cell: 647-871-7595
ksainteloy@usports.ca

Alan Hudes
Coordinator, Communications
U SPORTS
Off: 905-508-3000 ext. 242
Cell: 647-991-5343
ahudes@usports.ca

Connor Hood
University of Alberta
Off: 780-492-7214
Cell: 780-935-6276
hood@ualberta.ca

Consolation Final: 2017 U SPORTS FOG Men’s Volleyball Championship

 Manitoba goes out on a high note with consolation final win over Laval

EDMONTON (U SPORTS) – Manitoba won’t return home with the national championship they coveted after a terrific regular season, but they managed to salvage victory in the consolation final, defeating Laval in four sets on Sunday afternoon at the 2017 U SPORTS FOG Men’s Volleyball Championship at the Saville Community Sports Centre.

CHAMPIONSHIP WEBSITE: http://en.usports.ca/championships/mvball/index

Led by fifth-year setter Luke Herr, who recorded 50 assists, the Bisons beat the RSEQ champions 3-1 (25-22, 26-28, 25-23, 25-22) to secure a fifth-place finish at the nationals.

“For sure disappointing (not to claim the title), but it’s good to end on a high note,” said Herr, one of seven Bisons in their final U SPORTS game. “Most of our guys are done, this is our fifth year. It’s a good group of guys, so it feels nice to go out with a win.”

U SPORTS First Team All-Canadian Devren Dear, also graduating, led the Bisons with 20 kills as he spent the match trading highlights with powerful Laval outside hitter Vicente Ignacio Parraguirre Villalobos, who finished with 28 kills – the best single match mark of the tournament so far.

The Bisons, who last won the U SPORTS Men’s Volleyball Championship in 2003 for their 10th national title, were bronze medalists in 2012. Fifth isn’t up to their standards, but salvaging something is better than nothing.

“I think so,” said head coach Garth Pischke, who was named U SPORTS Coach of the Year for the sixth time prior to the tournament. “We finished 2-1, we lost to a very good team that played very good against us on that particular night.”

Manitoba had the advantage for most of the first set on Sunday afternoon as Dear piled up six kills on a .556 hitting percentage to lead the way. However, it was Evan Jackson’s hammer off the left that ended it.

The second set was a tense back-and-forth marathon with numerous lead changes, big blocks, and thunderous kills. Dear swung from the right for a chance to end it at 26-24, but Villalobos blocked him in a battle between superstars. The Chilean national team member then won a net battle against Herr and nuked a kill from the right side before Laval won the set on a net violation.

In the third set, Villalobos really showed off his ability to destroy the ball with 10 kills, with Manitoba having trouble containing him.

“Vicente is a great spiker and very dynamic with lots of power,” agreed Laval head coach Pascal Clement. “In the last three years, I think he’s improved a lot. He’s tried to change angles, especially when he knows the (opposition) will go for him.”

“I think he needs to work on his all-around game. (His) Serving is not good enough and his blocking is not good enough at this level. By the time he will be at the same level as his spiking, he’s going to be a great, great player. He’s only in his third year, so he’s still a young player.”

Despite his dominance, Manitoba kept the game even heading into the late stages and the clutch points went Manitoba’s way this time. Dear blasted one off the block and out to end it.

“I think we came through with some strong passing when we really needed it,” said Pischke. “We had some blips, but when the set was on the line, I thought we really passed well and that gave us a chance to win those games.

“That’s not easy to do when you’re struggling with it. I don’t think it was our best … certainly not as good as against New Brunswick. To do it when the game was on the line was pretty nice to see.”

Manitoba clinched the fourth set by again being more clutch late as Jackson’s two late kills were followed up by Ken Rooney’s match-clinching smash.

Dear’s output also included four blocks and seven digs, while Herr also chipped in 10 digs and two aces. Jackson added 10 kills, Rooney had nine and Dustin Spiring recorded a team-high five blocks.

“I’m really happy they played with as much confidence and belief that they were a strong team,” said Pischke. “That’s going to bode well for their future. Life is full of setbacks and it’s about getting up the next day and swinging hard. It’s a real testament to them. I think it’s going to help them later on.”

For Laval, who finished a position lower than their fifth-place spot in 2016, the future is bright with all but two players eligible to return next season.

“I would say we would love to play that kind of team more often, for sure,” said Clement. “Manitoba’s a great team. The power, the serve of their setter is huge. We don’t face that kind of serve very often in our conference, so that puts lots of pressure (on us).

“When we face that kind of team, it’s always going to be tough for the Quebec conference to get to the top. That’s our story. We can’t win every year and we haven’t. But we have to work smart enough and hard enough through the year to find a way to win (at nationals). We’re going to work hard as we did in the past and we will win somehow.”

Besides Villalobos’ output, Laval got 14 kills from fifth-year outside hitter Bruno Lortie in his final game, while rookie middle Gabriel Araya Menares recorded a game-high six blocks, and backup setter Frederic Bolduc had 53 assists and 10 digs.

STAT LEADERS

Complete Stats: http://fr.usports.ca/championships/mvball/2017/boxscores_champ/20170319_vdqb.xml

Manitoba

Kills: Devren Dear (20)

Points: Devren Dear (22)

Blocks: Dustin Spiring (3)

Digs: Luke Herr (10)

Service aces: Adam DeJonckheere, Luke Herr (2)

Player of the match: Luke Herr

Laval

Kills: Vicente Ignacio Parraguirre (28)

Points: Vicente Ignacio Parraguirre (30.5)

Blocks: Gabriel Araya Menares (3.5)

Digs: Frederic Bolduc, Vincent Thibault-Bernier (10)

Service aces: Dany Mailloux-Desroches (2)

Player of the match: Vicente Ignacio Parraguirre Villalobos

SCHEDULE & RESULTS (All times MT)

Friday, March 17

1:00 p.m. QF 1: No 1 Trinity Western 3 vs. No 8 Waterloo 0 (25-18, 25-15, 25-23)

2:30 p.m. QF 2: No 5 McMaster 3 vs. No 4 Laval 2 (25-16, 25-11, 23-25, 19-25, 17-15)

6:30 p.m. QF 3: No.2 Manitoba 1 vs. No. 7 Alberta 3 (18-25, 25-23, 21-25, 16-25)

8:00 p.m. QF 4: No.3 UBC 3 vs No.6 UNB 1 (25-22, 25-20, 22-25, 25-17)

Saturday, March 18

1:00 p.m. Consolation #1: No. 4 Laval 3 vs No. 8 Waterloo 0 (25-22, 25-19, 25-17)

2:30 p.m. Consolation #2: No, 2 Manitoba 3 vs. No. 6 UNB 0 (25-20, 25-15, 25-22)

6:30 p.m. Semifinal #1: No. 7 Alberta 3 vs. No. 3 UBC 2 (25-23, 25-15, 20-25, 20-25, 15-11)

8:00 p.m. Semifinal #2: No. 1 Trinity Western 3 vs. No. 5 McMaster 1 (23-25, 25-14, 25-17, 25-21)

Sunday, March 19

12:00 p.m. 5th place: No. 4 Laval 1 vs No. 2 Manitoba 3 (25-22, 26-28, 25-23, 25-22)

3:00 p.m. No. 3 UBC vs No. 5 McMaster (USPORTS.LIVE)

6:00 p.m. No. 1 Trinity Western vs No. 7 Alberta (USPORTS.LIVE)

About U SPORTS

Twitter: @USPORTSca

 Facebook: @USPORTSCanada 

YouTube: @USPORTSca

Instagram: @USPORTSca

Snapchat: @USPORTSca

For further information, please contact:

Ken Saint-Eloy

Manager, Communications

U SPORTS

Cell: 647-871-7595

Alan Hudes

Coordinator, Communications

U SPORTS

Off: 905-508-3000 ext. 242

Cell: 647-991-5343

Connor Hood

University of Alberta

Off: 780-492-7214

Cell: 780-935-6276

Bronze Medal: 2017 U SPORTS FOG Men’s Volleyball Championship
McMaster medals for fifth straight year after sweeping UBC in bronze match

EDMONTON (U SPORTS) – With their trademark block defence at its dominant best, McMaster shut down UBC to claim the bronze medal at the 2017 U SPORTS FOG Men’s Volleyball Championship, Sunday afternoon at the Saville Community Sports Centre.

CHAMPIONSHIP WEBSITE: http://en.usports.ca/championships/mvball/index

With a 3-0 win over the Canada West bronze medalists (25-14, 27-25, 25-17), McMaster leaves nationals with a medal for the fifth straight season.

“Not exactly the colours we wanted, but we’re very proud of what we accomplished so far,” said McMaster’s U SPORTS First Team All-Canadian Danny Demyanenko, who finishes his university career with two silvers and three bronze medals from U SPORTS Championships.

“After quite the tough match last night, to be able to end the right way definitely means a lot,” added the 6-foot-5 middle, who is one of four graduating seniors on the Marauders. “The guys who are graduating with me, we’ve been to nationals all five years that we’ve come here. We’ve finished with a medal. Though they may not be the colour we wanted and we didn’t win the national championship, our hard work showed dividends. We’re really happy to come home with another medal for our program.”

Demyanenko factored into Sunday’s win a big way as the captain led McMaster’s incredible block defence to nine total blocks and numerous chips that ruined sure kills for the Thunderbirds.

“Our block defence was incredible because our serving allowed it to be,” said McMaster head coach Dave Preston. “Last night, we didn’t serve well enough for our block defence to be good. That’s been our mainstay all year. We love to defend.

“Tonight our serve allowed us to do that. Last night it didn’t,” he added of a four-set defeat to Trinity Western, the very team that beat them in the national final a year ago.

The Marauders were game right from the first serve, cruising into the technical timeout up 16-7 off Demyanenko’s ace. They just kept extending their lead from there, ending it when Brandon Koppers blasted one of the UBC block and out.

It was not the same Thunderbirds team that took host Alberta to the limit on Saturday night.

“It took us a bit of time last night to regroup and release that loss last night,” UBC head coach Kerry MacDonald acknowledged. “That was a tough one. I thought we had the momentum going into that fifth set and to lose that one was tough. But today, we were really playing for a bronze medal because I thought our guys deserved it with what they did this year.

“I just wanted to see them be rewarded for all the hard work they put in and everything they accomplished. But we were not good enough today.”

In the second set, UBC was undone by serving errors – recording six of their 12 in that span – as McMaster held an early lead. However, the Thunderbirds deserved a better fate in the set. They were up 22-19 and seemed poised to make it a long match. But McMaster came out of a timeout fired up, closed the gap and a close set ended when UBC middle Joel Regehr went long on back-to-back kill attempts.

“There was kind of a combination of issues today,” said MacDonald. “I don’t think we served overly well. And we made too many attacking errors. We actually passed the ball quite well, but we never really got our offence going at all today.

“But a lot of that is a testament to them,” he noted. “I thought they did a great job on their side-out blocking and their defensive assignments were fantastic. That’s a pretty special team – a lot of fifth-years, junior national team and potential national team players over there. You’ve got to be better than that if you’re going to beat them.”

Hitting errors (10 total) destroyed any momentum UBC had going in the third set as they recorded a team percentage of -.062, unable to mount any offence against high-leaping McMaster. The match ended when Thunderbirds’ junior national team setter Byron Keturakis put a kill attempt into the net off a scrambly play.

Captain Irvan Brar, powerful and fantastic at times in the match, led UBC with 13 kills. Keturakis chipped in 31 assists and six digs, but he was off his normally dominant serving game with four errors. Cam Fennema added eight kills and an ace for the Thunderbirds.

McMaster was led by Koppers’ 10 kills, while Andrew Richards, Demyanenko and Jayson McCarthy had eight each. Andrew Kocur added two aces and six digs.

“Gold is the colour of champions, but bronze is the colour of those who persevere,” summed up Preston. “I thought we did a pretty good job of recovering from last night and keeping things in perspective – being able to come out and take the court with integrity today and show respect for the game, respect for our school and represent. I thought we did a really good job of that.”

“You don’t always get to pick the colour you wear, but I think they really did deserve that bronze medal today. I think they earned it.”

STAT LEADERS

Complete Stats: http://en.usports.ca/championships/mvball/2017/boxscores_champ/20170319_8qzk.xml

McMaster

Kills: Brandon Koppers (10)
Points: Brandon Koppers (12)
Blocks: Andrew Richards (3.5)
Digs: Andrew Kocur (6)
Service aces: Andrew Kocur (2)

Player of the match: Andrew Richards

UBC
Kills: Irvan Brar (13)
Points: Irvan Brar (13)
Blocks: Joel Regehr, Matt Santema (1)
Digs: Byron Keturakis (6)
Service aces: Cam Fennema (1)

Player of the match: Cam Fennema

SCHEDULE & RESULTS (All times MT)

Sunday, March 19
12:00 p.m. 5th place: No. 4 Laval 1 vs No. 2 Manitoba 3 (25-22, 26-28, 25-23, 25-22)
3:00 p.m. No. 3 UBC 0 vs No. 5 McMaster 3 (25-14, 27-25, 25-17)
6:00 p.m. No. 1 Trinity Western vs No. 7 Alberta (USPORTS.LIVE)

About U SPORTS

Twitter: @USPORTSca
Facebook: @USPORTSCanada
YouTube: @USPORTSca
Instagram: @USPORTSca
Snapchat: @USPORTSca

For further information, please contact:

Ken Saint-Eloy
Manager, Communications
U SPORTS
Cell: 647-871-7595
ksainteloy@usports.ca

Alan Hudes
Coordinator, Communications
U SPORTS
Off: 905-508-3000 ext. 242
Cell: 647-991-5343
ahudes@usports.ca

Connor Hood
University of Alberta
Off: 780-492-7214
Cell: 780-935-6276
hood@ualberta.ca

Gold Medal: 2017 U SPORTS FOG Men’s Volleyball Championship

 Trinity Western wins second straight U SPORTS Men’s Volleyball Championship

EDMONTON (U SPORTS) – The Trinity Western Spartans captured their second straight U SPORTS Men’s Volleyball Championship, defeating the host Alberta Golden Bears 3-1 (25-20, 25-20, 27-29, 25-23), Sunday night at the Saville Community Sports Centre.

CHAMPIONSHIP WEBSITE: http://en.usports.ca/championships/mvball/index

 The 2017 U SPORTS FOG Men’s Volleyball Championship win by Trinity Western gives their men’s volleyball program five Tantramar Trophies in their history. This is also the second time the Spartans have won back-to-back national titles, with the others coming in 2011 and 2012.

 “Whenever we play the Bears at this time of the season, it always turns into one of these classics. Two really great volleyball teams putting on a show, just really great volleyball,” said an emotional Ben Josephson, head coach of the Spartans. “I’m just so proud of our kids for dealing with that environment, we have these great leaders on our team that pushed through.

“In games like this, it has nothing to do with volleyball, because both teams are great at this point. It has everything to do with how much you can care for the guys beside you, and make them better. It is a great showcase of volleyball in U SPORTS. I’m just proud to have been a part of that match.”

Fifth-year Spartan, and 2017 U SPORTS Men’s Volleyball Player of the Year Ryan Sclater finished his career with a 12-kill performance, adding eight digs and five block assists.

“I’m just so grateful to be a part of this team. It’s going to be hard to leave these guys behind,” said Sclater. “That’s the thing I love the most, just playing every day with my best friends. I’m just really grateful I could be a part of this. I’m proud of how we fought back, how we found ways to get through and win when it wasn’t easy.”

Fourth-year Spartan Blake Scheerhoorn finished with a game-high 22 kills on 43 attempts, committing only three attacking errors, earning the Player of the Match. Spartan setter Adam Schriemer led the Spartans offence with 48 assists on Sunday, earning the 2017 U SPORTS FOG Men’s Volleyball Championship MVP.

Fifth-year middle Taylor Arnett led Alberta with 16 kills in his final U SPORTS game, adding two total blocks. Fellow graduating student-athlete Brett Walsh also chipped in 48 assists, eight digs and an ace.

“I thought we worked really hard tonight. Our guys were really wound up to start, we let a lot of really easy balls drop to start the match. It’s a really good team we were up against,“ said a visibly upset Terry Danyluk, head coach of the Bears. “We can’t afford to let them hit something that isn’t a tough shot, and not scooping those balls up when you have the opportunity. They are really well coached, they adapted, we adapted, but we ran a little short when the time came.”

Scheerhoorn was unstoppable in the opening set, going a perfect 7-for-7 with his attacks, leading Trinity Western to a 25-20 opening-set win. What is normally the greatest part of the Bears team, their middle blocking, worked against them in Sunday’s final. The Spartans stuffed Alberta three times in the opening-set win, and 15 times in the match.

The second set was one dominated by Scalter, as well as the Spartans’ tremendous pressure generated off their serve. Sclater found the floor with five kills on just nine attempts, while adding one of the five Spartans’ aces. In a set that saw eight ties and three lead changes, the Spartans were better late, taking the second by the same score.

Alberta got to within one set of their Canada West foe, winning one of the best sets of volleyball this season, 29-27 in the third. The Golden Bears also had to fight off two championship points in the set, thanks to a pair of massive kills from Arnett.

“The third and the fourth sets is when that game turned into some truly great volleyball,” continued Josephson. “The first couple sets I thought our service pressure put them into some trouble, and then they tightened that down. That’s probably the best they have passed all season. Coming off last weekend, I can only imagine how hard Terry Danyluk, Brock Davidiuk, and Dale Johns coached up that team. They worked really hard tonight. That’s the best they played all season. Talk about peaking at the right time, and it turned into an epic.”

Alberta’s peak, however, wasn’t high enough, as the Spartans captured the championship with another epic set win, 25-23 in the fourth. With the set tied at 21, a kill by Aaron Boettcher, coupled by three attack errors by the Bears gave Trinity Western the match. Boettcher also earned the championship-winning point, blocking Arnett in the middle.

“We got comfortable with not being smooth at times, not winning points the way we are used to,” said Sclater about his team’s performance in the fourth. “Alberta was blocking really well. We had to make some good shots that weren’t scoring, but we found a way to grind through that, and come out on top.”

TOURNAMENT AWARDS & ALL-STARS

Tournament MVP: Adam Schriemer – Trinity Western University

Tournament All-Stars:  Ryan Sclater – Trinity Western University 

Adam Schriemer – Trinity Western University

Blake Scheerhoorn – Trinity Western Universit

y Ryan Nickifor – University of Alberta

Taylor Arnett – University of Alberta

Brett Walsh – University of Alberta 

Brandon Koppers – McMaster University  

STAT LEADERS

Complete Stats: http://en.usports.ca/championships/mvball/2017/boxscores_champ/20170319_5xmz.xml

Trinity Western

Kills: Blake Scheerhoorn (22)

Points: Blake Scheerhoorn (24.5)

Blocks: Aaron Boettcher (7.5)

Digs: Ryan Sclater and Carter Bergen (8)

Service aces: Eric Loeppky (4)

Player of the match: Blake Scheerhoorn

Alberta 

Kills: Taylor Arnett (16)

Points: Taylor Arnett (18)

Blocks: Taylor Arnett and George Hobern (2)

Digs: Taryq Sani (12)

Service aces: Taryq Sani, Alex McMullin, George Hobern, and Brett Walsh (1)

Player of the match: Brett Walsh

SCHEDULE & RESULTS (All times MT)

Friday, March 17

1:00 p.m. QF 1: No 1 Trinity Western 3 vs. No 8 Waterloo 0 (25-18, 25-15, 25-23)

2:30 p.m. QF 2: No 5 McMaster 3 vs. No 4 Laval 2 (25-16, 25-11, 23-25, 19-25, 17-15)

6:30 p.m. QF 3: No.2 Manitoba 1 vs. No. 7 Alberta 3 (18-25, 25-23, 21-25, 16-25)

8:00 p.m. QF 4: No.3 UBC 3 vs No.6 UNB 1 (25-22, 25-20, 22-25, 25-17)

Saturday, March 18

1:00 p.m. Consolation #1: No. 4 Laval 3 vs No. 8 Waterloo 0 (25-22, 25-19, 25-17)

2:30 p.m. Consolation #2: No, 2 Manitoba 3 vs. No. 6 UNB 0 (25-20, 25-15, 25-22)

6:30 p.m. Semifinal #1: No. 7 Alberta 3 vs. No. 3 UBC 2 (25-23, 25-15, 20-25, 20-25, 15-11)

8:00 p.m. Semifinal #2: No. 1 Trinity Western 3 vs. No. 5 McMaster 1 (23-25, 25-14, 25-17, 25-21)

Sunday, March 19

12:00 p.m. 5th place: No. 4 Laval 1 vs No. 2 Manitoba 3 (25-22, 26-28, 25-23, 25-22)

3:00 p.m. Bronze: No. 3 UBC 0 vs No. 5 McMaster 3 (25-14, 27-25, 25-17)

6:00 p.m. Gold: No. 1 Trinity Western 3 vs No. 7 Alberta 1 (25-20, 25-20, 27-29, 25-23)

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