Photo credit Martin Bazyl
TORONTO (CIS) – The top seeded Trinity Western Spartans advance to their first-ever CIS final with a straight set victory (25-21, 25-23, 25-18) over the No. 4 Montreal Carabins in semi-final action at the 2015 CIS women’s volleyball championship, presented by Canuck Stuff, at the University of Toronto’s Goldring Centre for High Performance Sport.
Both teams entered the tournament in search of their first national titles. In their eight CIS championship appearances in program history, all in the past decade, the Spartans have twice earned the bronze medal (2011, 2013), with today’s victory marking their first semifinal win on the national stage.
Third-year outside hitter Sophie Carpentier of Ottawa, led all players with 16 points, notching a game-high 12 kills, while adding four blocks and seven digs. Fifth-year veteran Royal Richardson recorded seven kills, while Carly Hamilton had six on the day.
Libero Kristen Moncks ended the match with a game-high 14 digs, with sophomore setter Vanessa Cornwall of Coquitlam, B.C., tallying 30 assists, nine digs, four kills and two blocks en route to player of the match honours.
“I am so thrilled for these girls,” said Spartans head coach Ryan Hofer. “They have worked so hard. I thought Kristin played a great defensive game and both Sophie and Alicia were strong. Ellie and Katey blocked well. It was a good team effort. We really needed to get our block going and we got a lot of touches on the ball.”
Montreal player of the game Marie-Alex Bélanger led the Carabins with 10 kills, seven digs and three blocks. Katia Forcier recorded 16 assists and seven digs, with Stéphanie Lojen adding a team-high 13 digs in the loss.
"We had trouble with reception,” said Carabins bench boss Olivier Trudel. “When you don't have a good first contact, it will be a tough game. We had trouble getting things going. We have got to regroup. Bronze is an important medal. We know it's going to be a tough match, but I have confidence in the girls.”
The first set was back and forth with neither team building more than a three point lead as the Spartans took a 16-13 advantage at the technical timeout. Carpentier notched four late kills to lead Trinity Western to the 25-21 first set win.
The second set proved to be another close affair but Montreal
went on a 6-2 run to build a 16-11 lead at the break. The Spartans
charged back though, ending the set on an 8-4 streak to take the
2-0 match lead with a 25-23 victory.
Trinity Western got out to an 8-5 start thanks to some great work
from Cornwall and the Spartans led 16-13 at the technical timeout.
It was all Trinity Western from there as they secured the win with
a 25-18 third set victory.
STAT LEADERS
Trinity Western
Kills: Sophie Carpentier (12), Royal Richardson (7)
Points: Sophie Carpentier (16), Royal Richardson (8.5)
Blocks: Sophie Carpentier (4)
Digs: Kristen Moncks (14)
Service aces: Katelyn Devaney (1)
Player of the match: Vanessa Cornwall
Montreal
Kills: Marie-Alex Bélanger (10), Vicky Savard (4)
Points: Marie-Alex Bélanger (13), Alexane L Joly (6)
Blocks: Marie-Alex Bélanger (3)
Digs: Stephanie Lojen (13)
Service aces: Sarah Gosselin (1), Katia Forcier (1), Alexane L Joly
(1)
Player of the match: Marie-Alex Bélanger
CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE & RESULTS
Thursday, February 26
13:00 Quarter-final #1: No. 4 Montreal 3, No. 5 UBC 0 (25-22,
25-18, 25-16)
15:00 Quarter-final #2: No. 1 Trinity Western 3, No. 8 Laval 2
(24-26, 24-26, 25-15, 25-16, 15-8)
18:00 Quarter-final #3: No. 3 Toronto 3, No. 6 Dalhousie 0 (25-10,
25-19, 25-6)
20:00 Quarter-final #4: No. 2 Alberta 3, No. 7 Ottawa 0 (25-23,
25-21, 25-18)
Friday, February 27
11:30 Consolation #1: UBC 3, Laval 0 (25-12, 25-21, 33-31)
13:30 Consolation #2: Ottawa 3, Dalhousie 0 (25-11, 25-20,
25-21)
Saturday, February 28
14:00 Semifinal #1: Trinity Western 3, Montreal 0 (25-21, 25-23,
25-18)
16:00 Semifinal #2: Toronto vs. Alberta (www.CIS-SIC.tv)
Sunday, March 1
11:30 5th place: Ottawa vs UBC (www.CIS-SIC.tv)
14:00 Bronze medal: Montreal vs Loser Semifinal #2 (www.CIS-SIC.tv)
17:00 Championship final: Trinity Western vs Winner Semifinal #2
(www.CIS-SIC.tv)
