 |  |
QUARTER-FINAL #2 CIS championship: No. 4 Pandas oust Montreal for 2nd straight year
| Montreal | Alberta |
|---|---|
|
K:
Marie-Sophie Nadeau - 19
B: Pamela Drapeau - 6 D: Annie-C. Pellerin - 12 SA: Alexandra Lojen - 3 |
K:
Jaki Ellis - 13
B: Jenice Warkentin - 6 D: 3 Players (#9, #10, #15 - 10) SA: Jennifer Restall - 3 |
| TEAM STATISTICS | Montreal | Alberta |
|---|---|---|
| Hitting % | .175 | .230 |
| Blocks | 9.0 | 8.5 |
| Digs | 33 | 51 |
| Aces | 9 | 8 |
Courtesy: Laval sports information / Photo credit
Yan Dublet
QUEBEC CITY (CIS) – The fourth-seeded University of Alberta
Pandas rallied from a set down to defeat the Montreal Carabins 3-1
in the second quarter-final duel of the CIS women’s
volleyball championship at University Laval’s PEPS Stadium,
Friday afternoon.
Championship website (live webcasts): http://english.cis-sic.ca/championships/wvball
The Canada West bronze medallists prevailed 18-25, 25-23, 25-20 and
25-22 to earn a semifinal berth against top-ranked and reigning
three-time national champion UBC, Saturday at 6 p.m.
Alberta was eliminating the Carabins in the opening round of the
CIS tourney for the second straight season. A year ago in Edmonton,
the Pandas shocked then-No. 2 Montreal in straight sets but lost
its two following matches en route to a fourth-place finish.
The Quebec finalist Carabins started the game well, responding to
the challenge by dominating the first set. With only a few errors
made and by winning most of the long rallies, Montreal won
25-18.
The competition got fiercer in the second set with seven lead
changes. Although the Carabins took the early advantage at 5-1, the
Pandas changed things around and quickly tied the match. In the
end, even though Montreal was in control at 23-22, the Alberta
players rallied and won the set 25-23.
The Carabins took the lead one more time early in the third set
before seeing the Pandas climb back from behind. With the score
tied 15-15, the wind turned in favour of the Western team, who
finally captured the set 25-20.
In the fourth set, the Pandas quickly found their rhythm after
taking a 4-0 lead, en route to a 25-22 win.
“We started really tight, which we did last week on Saturday
(against Manitoba in the Canada West bronze-medal game)”,
analyzed Pandas’ head coach Laurie Eisler. “It gave us
some confidence and we learned how to lose tension and at some
level learned how to play with it. I was really happy with the
team’s ability to ride the ship, to play our style and stick
with it.”
“It would have been fun to give the girls a final four
experience this year,” said Carabins’ coach Olivier
Trudel, obviously disappointed after the game. “Everyone
brought her contribution into this match. We have conceded too many
long series of points and we lost the groove.”
“It took some time to adjust our block,” added Trudel.
“Their forward had a simple pattern, but we were not
disciplined enough to counter them.”
Second-team all-Canadian Jaki Ellis was named player of the game
for the winners. The 6-foot-1 athlete managed to get 13 kills and a
total of 16 points. For Montreal, power hitter Sophie
Bergeron-Leblanc was named MVP of the match. She had 12 kills and
seven digs.
The Pandas had also defeated the Carabins in the first round of
last year’s national championship.
Montreal will be involved in an all-Quebec consolation semifinal
Saturday at noon against the Sherbrooke University Vert &
Or.
STATS LEADERS
Alberta
Kills: Jaki Ellis (13), Krista Zubick (9)
Points: Jaki Ellis (16), Krista Zubick (10.5)
Blocks: Jenice Warkentin (3)
Digs: Erin Walsh, Tiffany Proudfoot, Krista Zubick (10)
Service aces: Jennifer Restall (3)
Assists: Alyssa Jones (20)
Player of the match: Jaki Ellis
Montreal
Kills: Marie-Sophie Nadeau (19), Sophie Bergeron-Leblanc
(12)
Points: Marie-Sophie Nadeau (21.5), Gabrielle Vallée-Vachon
(12.5), Sophie Bergeron-Leblanc (12)
Blocks: Pamela Drapeau (3)
Digs: Annie-Claude Pellerin (12)
Service aces: Alexandra Lojen (3)
Assists: Alexandra Lojen (40)
Player of the match: Sophie Bergeron-Leblanc
CHAMPIONSHIP
SCHEDULE & RESULTS
NOTE: Live webcast of all matches at http://english.cis-sic.ca/championships/wvball
Friday, March 4
Quarter-final #1: UBC 3, Sherbrooke 1 (25-13, 25-18, 23-25,
25-12)
Quarter-final #2: Alberta 3, Montreal 1 (18-25, 25-23, 25-20,
25-22)
18:00 Quarter-final #3: No. 2 Trinity Western vs. No. 7 Western
Ontario
20:00 Quarter-final #4: No. 3 Laval vs. No. 6 UNB
Saturday, March 5
12:00 Consolation #1: Sherbrooke vs. Loser quarter-final #2
14:00 Consolation #2: Loser quarter-final #3 vs. Loser
quarter-final #4
18:00 Semifinal #1: UBC vs. Winner quarter-final #2
20:00 Semifinal #2: Winner quarter-final #3 vs. Winner
quarter-final #4
Sunday, March 6
11:00 5th place
13:00 Bronze medal
16:30 Championship final
-CIS-
