 |  |
SEMI-FINAL #2 CIS championship: Spartans upset defending champs, earn spot in final
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calgary () | 17 | 25 | 23 | 25 | 9 | 2 |
| Trinity Western () | 25 | 18 | 25 | 20 | 15 | 3 |
| Calgary | Trinity Western |
|---|---|
|
K:
Graham Vigrass - 20
B: David Egan - 5 D: Ciaran McGovern - 20 SA: 3 Players (#3, #10, #18 - 1) |
K:
Rudy Verhoeff - 19
B: Josh Doornenbal - 9 D: Marc Howatson - 22 SA: Lucas Van berkel - 3 |
| TEAM STATISTICS | Calgary | Trinity Western |
|---|---|---|
| Hitting % | .199 | .238 |
| Blocks | 9.0 | 20.0 |
| Digs | 70 | 63 |
| Aces | 3 | 4 |
Courtesy: TWU sports information / Photo credit
Scott Stewart
LANGLEY, B.C. (CIS) – For the second straight year the
Trinity Western Spartans will play in the final of the CIS
men’s volleyball championship thanks to a thrilling 3-2
semifinal win (25-17, 18-25, 25-23, 20-25, 15-9) over the defending
national champion Calgary Dinos, Saturday night, at the Langley
Events Centre.
Championship website (including complete stats): http://english.cis-sic.ca/championships/mvball
After losing to Calgary in four sets in the 2010 CIS gold medal
game in Kamloops, B.C., the tournament host and fourth-seeded
Spartans turned the tables in front of a near-capacity crowd and
joined the third-ranked Brandon Bobcats in Sunday’s title
match at 6 p.m. PST.
The TWU-Brandon matchup will mark the ninth all-Canada West
national final in the last 10 years. Canada West teams have
captured the last 16 CIS banners, and 32 of the past 35.
Trinity Western had appeared in two CIS finals prior to last year,
winning its lone Tantramar Trophy in 2006 thanks to a straight-set
victory over Alberta, and claiming silver in 2005 following a 3-2
loss to the Golden Bears. The Spartans are also assured of their
sixth CIS medal in eight seasons - and in as many championship
appearances - having also captured bronze in 2007 and 2004.
Once again TWU was led by Rudy Verhoeff, who had 19 kills and 10
digs, Marc Howatson (22 digs), Ben Ball (50 assists) and Josh
Doornenbal (10 kills and 9 blocks). The Spartans replicated their
five-set quarter-final win over Alberta on Friday by winning the
first, third and fifth sets.
Playing in front of another electric crowd, the Spartans were an
emotionally-charged bunch that was mentally wired to win it from
the opening serve. So when they entered the fifth set, they were
well prepared
"We wanted our players to be relaxed tonight. This was their
moment," said Trinity Western head coach Ben Josephson. "We played
with tremendous poise and toughness all night. We got pretty bang
up in the fourth, but we rebounded with an amazing effort in the
fifth set."
“We got beat down pretty good in that fourth set and going in
the fifth set we just said ‘Freedom guys. This is worship.
This is what we do. This is our chapel.’ And we played with
unbelievable poise and toughness the whole night and I thought they
embodied a lot of the identities we’ve been building into our
team all season long.”
With a crazy pro-Spartan crowd supporting the hometown team,
Trinity Western got off to a torrid start in the first
set.
Thanks to a pair of kills each from Verhoeff and Mikiah Schalk, the
Spartans pulled out to an 8-4 lead and had the crowd in a buzz.
With a kill and a block in quick succession from Lucas Van Berkel,
TWU took a 10-4 lead and never looked back. The Dinos got as close
as three points but the emotional wave coming from the Spartans
crowd wasn’t about to let TWU allow Calgary any closer.
In the first set, TWU hit 18.9 per cent and held Calgary to -8.6
per cent.
In the second set, Calgary responded.
With the game tied 6-6, the Dinos went on a 4-0 run, with kills
from Allen Meek and Graham Vigrass, to take a 10-6 lead and never
trailed the rest of the way.
The Dinos maintained at least a three-point gap thanks to an
eight-kill set from Vigrass and five kills from Meek. Trinity
Western managed to get the game to 20-17 after a Nick Del Bianco
kill, but Calgary replied with five of the next six points to take
the set 25-18.
The statistical difference in the second set was Calgary’s
attack. After Calgary hit in the negatives in the first set, they
improved that to 45.7 per cent in the second set.
In the third set, the Spartans of the first set returned to the
Langley Events centre as the blue and white took an early 9-4
lead.
But before TWU could take off any further, Calgary’s David
Egan put a nasty block on Dan Jansen Van Doorn that sparked a 4-1
run for the Dinos that got them right back in the set.
The Spartans pushed their lead back up to four points and, after a
block by Marc Howatson and Van Berkel, TWU possessed an 18-14 lead.
But Calgary wasn’t about to break.
The Dinos went on a 6-2 run to even things at 20-20, with Meek
getting the equalizing kill, and the game started from square one.
And from square one, the Spartans won 5-3 as Josh Doornenbal sent
his kill off a Calgary block and well beyond the back line for the
win.
In the fourth set, not surprisingly, Calgary came out with a strong
response. With the score 4-4, Calgary got three straight points,
two of which came from a Meek ace and a Chris Hoag kill, and took a
lead they would own for the rest of the set.
A Van Berkel kill over the middle got TWU to within three at 15-12,
but then Calgary went on a 4-0 run and took a seven-point lead the
Spartans couldn’t surmount. With his fifth kill of the set,
Meek got the winning point, putting his attempt off the hands of a
block and out.
In the fifth set, with the score tied 1-1, Calgary let a Van Berkel
serve drop on the back line for an ace and gave TWU a 2-1 lead and
the crowd seemed to take it from there. Stepping up their game from
the stands, Trinity Western’s fans no doubt helped compile an
8-3 run to take a 9-4 lead.
And then a monster block from Van Berkel on Hoag put TWU up 11-6
and a couple of enormously hard serves from Schalk eventually
helped win the fifth 15-9, which was capped by a Van Berkel
kill.
“It was two very good teams playing good volleyball, maybe
the best two teams in the country,” said Calgary coach Rod
Durrant. “At the end of the day I thought they earned it. We
played very well. We got momentum in the second and fourth set and
just couldn’t carry that into the fifth yet because they were
making plays and forcing us into some tough situations. I think
they beat us. I don’t think we beat ourselves.”
Calgary was led by Vigrass, who had 20 kills, Jay Blankenau, who
had 54 assists and Ciaran McGovern, who had 19 digs.
The Dinos will play Laval in the Bronze medal match Sunday at 3:00
p.m. PST.
STAT LEADERS
Trinity Western
Kills : Rudy Verhoeff (19), Josh Doornenbal (10), Lucas Van Berkel
(9)
Points: Rudy Verhoeff (21), Lucas Van Berkel (16.5)
Blocks: Josh Doornenbal (9)
Digs: Marc Howatson (22)
Service aces: Lucas Van Berkel (3)
Assists: Ben Ball (50)
Player of the match: Rudy Verhoeff
Calgary
Kills: Graham Vigrass (20), Allen Meek (14), David Egan (11)
Points: Graham Vigrass (21.5), Allen Meek (16)
Blocks: David Egan (5)
Digs: Ciaran McGovern (19)
Service aces: Curtis James (1)
Assists: Jay Blankenau (54)
Player of the match: Graham Vigrass
SCHEDULE &
RESULTS (all times LOCAL: Pacific Time)
NOTE: Live webcast of all matches at http://english.cis-sic.ca/championships/mvball
Friday, March 4
Quarter-final #1: Laval 3, UNB 0 (25-18, 25-14, 27-25)
Quarter-final #2: Brandon 3, McMaster 1 (25-15, 25-19, 21-25,
25-15)
Quarter-final #3: Trinity 3, Alberta 1 (25-23, 23-25, 25-17, 21-25,
15-11)
Quarter-final #4: Calgary 3, Sherbrooke 0 (25-12, 26-24, 25-18)
Saturday, March 5
Consolation #1: McMaster 3, UNB 1(25-22, 23-25, 25-16,
25-16)
Consolation #2: Alberta 3, Sherbrooke 0 (25-22, 25-18,
25-9)
Semi-final #1: Brandon 3, Laval 0 (25-20, 25-20, 25-23)
Semi-final #2: Trinity Western 3, Calgary 2 (25-17, 18-25, 25-23,
20-25, 15-9)
Sunday, March 6
12:00 5th place: McMaster vs. Alberta
15:00 Bronze medal: Laval vs. Calgary
18:00 Championship final: Brandon vs. Trinity Western
-CIS-
