SEMIFINAL #2: CIS championship: No. 3 Bisons beat Alberta, to play for record-tying gold

Courtesy of University of Alberta sports information

EDMONTON (CIS) – The third-seeded Manitoba Bisons downed the No. 7 and tournament host Alberta Pandas in four sets of 25-6, 25-17, 21-25, 27-25 in the second semifinal of the CIS women’s volleyball championship at the UofA’s Main Gym, Saturday night.

Championship website (live webcasts): http://english.cis-sic.ca/championships/wvball

Video Highlights

CIS WVBall - Semi 2 Hilites

CIS WVBall - Semi 2 Post Game

With the win, Manitoba advances to Sunday’s 6 p.m. Mountain Time final against the top-seeded and two-time defending national champion UBC Thunderbirds, who swept No. 5 Laval in three sets in Saturday’s early semifinal.

The duel will be a rematch of last week’s Canada West title game, a close-fought affair won in five by the T-Birds, who go into Sunday’s contest with a perfect 26-0 overall record against CIS opponents this season.

The victors on Sunday will tie the all-time mark of seven CIS titles currently shared by Alberta and Winnipeg. UBC and Manitoba both have six, the Bisons’ last triumph dating back to 2002, when they claimed the banner for a second straight year. The Birds and Bisons have never battled head-to-head for CIS gold.

First-team all-Canadian Ashley Voth was an absolute force for Manitoba against the Pandas, especially in the first two sets when she punctured the Alberta defence with unerring accuracy to the tune of nine kills on 13 attempts. The Winnipeg native and Team Canada player finished with 17 kills.

Fourth-year middle Amy Penner had a sparkling .800 hitting percentage, knocking away four of five kill attempts, and was a wall at the net, combining for nine blocks.

“Ashley had some really big swings in the fourth for us, and you know, that’s the kind of player she is,” said 24-year Manitoba head coach Ken Bentley, winner of five CIS titles in his time with the Bisons.

“I thought we passed and served really well, I mean, we created enough opportunities in every set to win, and when we didn’t get a point, we were strong defensively. We were very prepared to play, and I think they struggled a bit with their passing game, and had a slow start, but we were sharp and ready to go from the beginning, and that was big for us,” added Bentley.

Fourth-year Calgarian Tiffany Proudfoot, one of Alberta’s heroes during their upset win over No. 2 Montreal in Friday’s quarterfinal round, was the main focus of the Panda attack, as she took 59 swings, 23 more than anyone else on the floor. The regular season Canada West leader in kills ended up making 16 of her shots count for points as the Pandas struggled on offence all night.

“We had to do some of things we committed to doing in the pre-game, but we didn’t resemble ourselves at all. We weren’t relaxed enough on defence and some of that is from the tension of being in a national semifinal,” said Alberta bench boss Laurie Eisler.

Alberta will now meet Laval for CIS bronze Sunday at 3 p.m. MST. The two sides played a non-conference match in Edmonton in early January, where the Pandas prevailed in straight sets.

“I wish we could have continued playing tonight, but we aren’t, and I wish that I didn’t have experience in bronze medal matches, but unfortunately I do,” Eisler added. “We finished strong tonight, even though we lost, I thought we showed real fight, and I’m proud of that. We’ll have to feel this pain for a while, and then find a way to dig even deeper for a medal tomorrow.”

Manitoba and Alberta have combined to win 13 national championships, including six in a row by Alberta from 1995 to 2000, but the start to Saturday night’s affair looked like more like champions versus rookies.

The Bisons absolutely destroyed the host Pandas in the opening frame, starting out with a 4-1 lead, that quickly ballooned to a 9-2 advantage, and eventually a 25-6 win. At one point, after a 10-0 run, they held a lead of 21-3, and finished with a team .591 hitting percentage, and limited Alberta to a -.100 attacking mark.

It’s the second time in CIS championship history that the Bisons have beat a team that badly, as they previously pulled off the feat against Memorial University in the 2000 championship.

The Pandas started to find their game in the second set, picking up their first lead at 5-3, and holding on until 13-13. Manitoba then torched the Pandas with a 6-2 run to lead for good, eventually winning 25-17.

In the third, Alberta finally found their composure despite the fact they trailed by three at the first technical timeout.

After the break, they rattled off a 6-0 run to go ahead 11-8, and although Manitoba closed the gap, the Pandas re-established a four-point break at 23-19, registering the win at 25-21.

The fourth set featured more drama; Manitoba opened with a 5-2 run to start, and were still leading by the first technical timeout, but only at 8-6. That deficit continued to hang around the two-point area, but Alberta closed even further, and then tied the match at 17.

Camille Wallace and Jen Restall combined on a block to give the Pandas their first lead of the set at 18-17, but soon found themselves tied again, this time at 19.

Once the Bisons jumped ahead by two, 23-21, Proudfoot regained the lead for Alberta, but the Pandas couldn’t get the set point at 24-23, giving the Bisons the opportunity they needed to the tie the match again. Manitoba then gained match point, 25-24, but were broken by an Alberta kill, only to earn the lead back, and this time close it out by stuffing an Alberta attack for the win.

“When we were pushed a little in that fourth set, the message was ‘you’re playing well, don’t change a thing.’ We bent a few times, but never really broke, and I was very pleased to see that from this group,” Bentley added.

“They’re the big dogs, they are the ones to beat,” Bentley said of UBC. “We’ll try and stay with them and give them a good match tomorrow.”

NOTES: Coming into the match, Alberta had beaten Manitoba in five previous matches at the national tournament. Their last meeting on the CIS stage was in 2000... Sunday’s final will mark the 16th time in the last 25 seasons two teams from Canada West will meet for CIS gold.

CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE & RESULTS (all times LOCAL: Mountain Time)

Friday, March 5

Quarter-final #1: No. 1 UBC 3, No. 8 Saint Mary’s 0 (25-17, 25-17, 25-13)
Quarter-final #2: No. 5 Laval 3, No. 4 Regina 0 (25-21, 25-21, 25-19)
Quarter-final #3: No. 3 Manitoba 3, No. 6 Toronto 0 (25-21, 25-20, 25-19)
Quarter-final #4: No. 7 Alberta 3, No. 2 Montreal 0 (25-20, 25-18, 27-25)

Saturday, March 6

Consolation #1: Regina 3, Saint Mary’s 0 (25-18, 25-15, 25-9)
Consolation #2: Toronto 3, Montreal 2 (26-24, 25-22, 24-26, 22-25, 16-14)
Semi-final #1: UBC 3, Laval 0 (25-19, 25-22, 25-17)
Semi-final #2: Manitoba 3, Alberta 1 (25-6, 25-17, 21-25, 27-25)

Sunday, March 7

12:00 Fifth place: Toronto vs. Regina
15:00 Bronze medal: Laval vs. Alberta (SSN Canada webcast)
18:00 Championship final: UBC vs. Manitoba (SSN Canada webcast)


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