BRONZE MEDAL CIS championship: Calgary wins bronze in thriller over Laval

Courtesy: TWU sports information / Photo credit Scott Stewart
 
LANGLEY, B.C. (CIS) – It’s not the colour they originally wanted but the top-seeded Calgary Dinos, who last year won their first national title since 1993, will return home from the CIS men’s volleyball championship with a medal after edging the No. 2 Laval Rouge et Or in five sets (20-25, 25-22, 19-25, 27-25, 18-16) in the third-place match, Sunday afternoon, at the Langley Events Centre.
 
Championship website (including complete stats): http://english.cis-sic.ca/championships/mvball
 
With the Dinos’ win combined with a Brandon-Trinity Western final later on Sunday, the CIS podium will be owned by Canada West schools for the second straight season and for the ninth time in 10 years.
 
Laval – with silver in 2009 - is the only Eastern team to claim a medal at the CIS tournament since 2001. The Quebec champions also lost the duel for third place a year ago in Kamloops, B.C.
 
The Canada West champion Dinos had to rally from a set down on two occasions to prevail, as they saw the Rouge et Or take the first and third frame. Calgary also saved a match point at 14-15 in the fifth.
 
Reigning CIS player of the year Graham Vigrass paced the winners with 21 kills, while teammate Levi Nutma contributed 13.
 
“Our effort was tremendous,” said Dinos coach Rod Durrant, whose squad lost in five sets to tourney host Trinity Western in Saturday’s semifinal round, one year after edging the Spartans 3-2 to end a 17-year gold medal drought. “They showed an incredible amount of character. We had every reason not to come out and play after the first set. But this group has continually shown the character in the room and the confidence in each other. And to pull that out at 18-16 in the fifth set, it’s just a great win and a great way to finish our season.
 
“We showed maturity. They knew it was a Bronze medal game. We knew it was for a berth in nationals next year and because of that they prepared. We did the same things we have always done since September. We kept everything the same in our routine and they performed as well as they could.”
 
In the first set the Rouge et Or looked the hungrier of the two teams as they took a 6-3 lead and ran to 25 points never trailing.
 
A Frédéric Desbiens kill put Laval up by seven points, at 20-13, and then the RSEQ champions cruised to the finish line, winning 25-20. Karl De Grandpré led the Rouge et Or with five kills while setter Justin Boudreault had 14 assists.
 
In set number two, Calgary woke up.
 
The stanza started with the teams going back and forth with neither side able to open anything more than a two-point lead. That was until a Curtis James attacking error gave the Rouge et Or a 20-17 advantage.
 
But Calgary came right back. With three kills and a block from Nutma, the Dinos went on an 8-2 run to rally for an impressive win. With the score 22-22, Calgary earned three straight points, capped by a David Egan and Jay Blankenau block, to win the set.
 
In the third frame, a block by Jérémie Lortie and Boudreault earned Laval the first point of the set and the Rouge et Or rolled from there.
 
With Laval leading 13-12, the Rouge et Or went on an 8-2 run to crack the game wide open. And not long after that, a kill over the middle from Micael Girard ended the set at 25-19.
 
Calgary responded to Laval’s strong third set with an energetic start to the fourth set that gave the Dinos a 6-1 lead. The Rouge et Or got to within three points at 8-5, then Calgary took off again, opening up a 12-6 lead.
 
The Rouge et Or battled back to make it 17-15 after back-to-back aces from Girard, and then kept the pressure on Calgary, closing the gap to 20-19 after Chris Hoag’s attack hit the antenna and 21-20 after a De Grandpré kill.
 
Then, after a David Egan whiffed on an attack attempt, Laval tied it, 22-22, for the first time since it was 1-1.
 
Laval managed to take the lead at 25-24 for the first time in the set, but only for Girard to put his serve into the net and Hoag to put Calgary on set point with a kill right after. And a block from Hoag and Vigrass sent the match to five sets. 
 
The fifth set was a topsy-turvy match the whole way. Calgary had an 8-6 lead at the first technical timeout. The Rouge et Or then took the lead 10-9 after a pair of Desbiens kills sandwiched around a Lortie service ace.
 
Calgary went up 14-12 after a Desbiens miss but then Meek put his subsequent serve beyond the end line and gave Laval life and sparked what would be a back and forth beyond 15-point match.
 
And with the score 16-16, a kill be Meek gave Calgary a one-point lead and a Nutma kill finished the game.
 
STAT LEADERS
 
Calgary
Kills : Graham Vigrass (21), Levi Nutma (13), David Egan (11)
Points: Graham Vigrass (24.5)
Blocks: Graham Vigrass (6), David Egan (6)
Digs: Jay Blankenau (11)
Service aces: Jay Blankenau (2)
Assists: Jay Blankenau (57)
 
Player of the match: Graham Vigrass
 
Laval
Kills: Frédéric Desbiens (22), Karl De Grandpré (13), Frédéric Mondou (12)
Points: Frédéric Desbiens (25)
Blocks: Micael Girard (7)
Digs: Pierre-Alexis Lapointe (16)
Service aces: Micael Girard (3)
Assists: Justin Boudreault (55)
 
Player of the match: Frédéric Desbiens
 
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 2 (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
 
5th place: Alberta 3, McMaster 1 (25-22, 25-23, 22-25, 25-18)
Bronze medal: Calgary 3, Laval 2 (20-25, 25-22, 19-25, 27-25, 18-16)
18:00 Championship final: Brandon vs. Trinity Western 
 
 
-CIS-