SATURDAY

Men's Volleyball Final Four Host
Trinity Western

Quarter-final best-of-three match-ups
Brandon at UBC
Calgary at Alberta
Saskatchewan at Thompson Rivers

#3 Alberta 3 #4 UBC 1

Thunderbirds-Golden Bears Stats

by Matt Gutsch, Golden Bears & Pandas Communications

EDMONTON - In his final regular season career game, fifth-year left-side Jay Olmstead recorded 27 kills and a 52% attack rating to lead the #3 Alberta Golden Bears to a 3-1 (22-25, 27-25, 27-25 and 25-17) victory over the #4 UBC Thunderbirds, Saturday at the Saville Community Sports Centre.
 
Olmstead was on fire all-weekend. The Edmonton product banked 47 kills over the two matches, and cemented his place in Golden Bears history by earning the third most kills in team history. He finished his regular season career with 885 kills.
 
While the win improves Alberta's record to 15-7, it leaves them tied with UBC for second place in the final conference standings. But, by virtue of a better sets won vs. sets lost ratio, the T-Birds have claimed second place, while the Bears slip to third. Both teams will host a best-of-three conference quarterfinal series beginning next weekend, against opponents still to be determined.
 
Both the Golden Bears and Birds will now host a quarter-final series next weekend, but are awaiting their opponent.

U of A Athletics

Calgary 3 #9 Brandon 0

Bobcats-Dinos Stats

by Ben Matchett, U of C Dinos Communications

CALGARY – Solid play at the net, led by 12.5 team blocks, led the Calgary Dinos to a 3-0 (25-21, 25-22, 25-20) win over the #9 Brandon Bobcats on Saturday at the Jack Simpson Gym.
 
The win on the final night of the season guarantees Calgary (11-11) a post-season berth, a year after missing the playoffs. Finishing sixth, Calgary will head to Edmonton to face the Alberta Golden Bears in a best-of-three Canada West quarterfinal series next weekend, with the winner advancing to the conference Final Four at Trinity Western University in Langley, B.C. Brandon (10-12), meanwhile, earns the tiebreaker over Mount Royal for the seventh and final playoff spot and will visit UBC for a quarter-final series next week.
 
In their final game in the Jack Simpson Gym before their national quarter-final on Thursday, Feb. 27 when they kick off the 2014 CIS men's volleyball championship at home, the Dinos put together a complete performance led by middle Sean Tuff. Not only was Tuff in on seven of Calgary's 12.5 blocks on the night, but he added nine kills and a 66.7 per cent attack efficiency on the night as the Dinos executed crisply throughout the match, avenging a straight-sets loss to the Bobcats on Friday night.
 
Gregg Mann finished the night with 14 kills for Calgary, adding 11 digs.
 
The Dinos split their season series with the Golden Bears, falling 3-0 before rallying for a big 3-2 win the following night. Both games were played at the Saville Community Sports Centre in Edmonton.
 
The 2014 CIS Men's Volleyball Championship runs Feb. 27-March 1 in the Jack Simpson Gym.

U of C Athletics

#2 Trinity Western 3 Winnipeg 1

Wesmen-Spartans Stats

by Mark Janzen, TWU Sports Information

LANGLEY, BC – The #2 Trinity Western Spartans knocked off Winnipeg 3-1 (25-15, 25-15, 23-25, 25-22) on Saturday at the Langley Events Centre to collect its 20th win of the year and earn its first 20-win season in program history.
 
Trinity Western finishes 20-2, while the Wesmen are 9-13
 
Just like the 2011-12 year, the Spartans earned top spot in Canada West and the right to host the Final Four, which will be played Feb. 21-22 at the Langley Events Centre.
 
TWU's Brad Kufske had a team-high 12 kills.
 
Van Berkel capped his Canada West regular season career with 407 blocks, which is the second best mark in Canada West history, trailing only Joseph Brooks, who had 414 blocks while with Manitoba.
 
The Wesmen were led offensively by Tom Douglas-Powell, who had 14 kills while Casey Schouten added 12 kills. Setter Josh McKay had 33 assists to go with a match-high 11 digs. Matthew Dueck had a team-high four blocks.

TWU Athletics

#8 Saskatchewan 3 Mount Royal 1

Cougars-Huskies Stats

by Nicole Betker, Huskies Sports Information

SASKATOON - With a 3-1 (25-27, 25-19, 25-13, 25-18) #8 Saskatchewan win over the visiting Mount Royal Cougars in the final regular season match of the season, the Huskies secured a spot in the Canada West post-season.
 
With the win Saskatchewan finishes 11-11 and in fifth place in the standings. The Huskies will travel to meet the Thompson Rivers WolfPack in a quarter-final series.
 
Mount Royal closes the season 10-12 and will not advance to the playoffs. Entering Saturday's match both teams needed a victory to become one of the seven playoff teams.
 
Fifth-year outside hitter Bryan Fraser led the Huskies in the match with 16 kills and 11 digs. Paul Thomson added another 13 kills and 14 digs.
 
Mount Royal's fifth-year outside hitter Colton deMan was once again impressive leading the Cougars with 27 kills. Jordan Or finished with 12 digs.
 
Match 1 in the Canada West best-of-three quarter-final series between the Huskies and WolfPack is set for February 13 in Kamloops. Match 2 is February 14 and Match 3, if needed, February 15. First serve is 7 p.m. B.C. time in all three matches.

Huskie Athletics

Manitoba 3 #6 Thompson Rivers 1

Bisons-WolfPack Stats

by Larry Read, TRU SPorts Information

KAMLOOPS, BC — It wasn't the way that Pat Hennelly would want to finish his regular season.  The Thompson Rivers University WolfPack men's volleyball head coach saw his team sputter at times as they lost 3-1 to the Manitoba Bisons on Saturday at the TRU Gym.

The scores were 25-23, 21-25, 25-21, 25-20.

The WolfPack finish with a record of 13-8, while the Bisons wind up at 9-12. TRU finishes in fourth spot, Manitoba is 10th.

The WolfPack will host the Saskatchewan Huskies in a best of three quarter-final starting Thursday at the Tournament Capital Centre.

Manitoba was led by Devren Dear, who had 19 kills, one service ace and seven digs to go with a block assist. Adam DeJonckheere contributed 17 kills.

TRU was led by Randy Grundmann, who had 12 kills, with three service aces, three digs and four block assists.

The WolfPack return to Canada West playoff activity after a two-year absence.  Thursday's match has a 7 p.m. start time.

TRU Athletics

Regina 3 UBC Okanagan 1

Cougars-Heat Stats

by Cary Mellon, UBCO Sports Information

KELOWNA, BC - A block margin of four-and-a-half proved to be the difference for the Regina Cougars as the U of R blocked their way to the 3-1 (25-16, 28-26, 20-25, 25-21) victory on Saturday night in over the UBC Okanagan Heat.
 
Andrew Nelson and Mathew Lueck provided the majority of the offense for Regina, combining for 25 of the Cougars' 49 kills on the evening. Defensively, Rhodri Simmons had five total blocks, and he would chip in six kills as well for the Cougars.
 
The win will see Regina finish 4-18, while the loss will see the Heat finish an equal 4-18.
 
Thus ends the 2013/2014 seasons for both Regina and UBC Okanagan. The Heat will bid farwell to Davis Proch and Nate Speijer, while Regina will graduate Ryan Cherwaty, Nathan Cherwaty, Caleb Eschbach, and Marco Vargas, and Joel Legasse.

Heat Athletics

FRIDAY

#2 Trinity Western 3 Winnipeg 1

Wesmen-Spartans Stats

by Mark Janzen, TWU Sports Information

LANGLEY, BC – Trinity Western setter Adam Schriemer got the best of his older brother, Matthew, in their first ever on-court clash as the #2 Spartans knocked off Winnipeg 3-1 (28-26, 18-25, 25-13, 25-15) on Friday at the Langley Events Centre.
 
The first-year Schriemer guided TWU's offence with 43 assists and helped three different Spartans to double-digit kill totals en route to the four-set win.
 
The loss drops Winnipeg to 9-12 on the season and puts their playoff hopes in peril. The Wesmen will need a win and a lot of help to get into the post-season. The Spartans (19-2) clinched first place in Canada West last week and will host the Final Four in two weeks.
 
The Spartans offence was led by Brad Kufske, who had 16 kills, while Ryan Sclater  added 14 kills and seven blocks.
 
Lucas Van Berkel's nine blocks improves his career total to 402. He is now 12 blocks shy of the Canada West career regular season record, which is held by Joseph Brooks, formerly of the Manitoba Bisons.
 
After Winnipeg's Schriemer, it was Tom Douglas-Powell with 11 kills for the Wesmen, while Casey Schouten had seven kills. Matthew Dueck had a team-high five blocks.
 
The teams will play the rematch Saturday at 7 p.m.

TWU Athletics

#4 UBC 3 #3 Alberta 1

Thunderbirds-Golden Bears Stats

by Matt Gutsch, Communications, U of Alberta Athletics

EDMONTON - Despite a match high 20 kills from fifth-year left-side hitter Jay Olmstead, the #3 Alberta Golden Bears dropped a 3-1 decision (27-29, 19-25, 36-34 and 25-19) to the #4 UBC Thunderbirds on Friday night at the Saville Community Sports Centre.
 
But, his efforts weren't enough to lift the Bears past UBC, and as a result the Bears slip to a 14-7 record and into third place in the Canada West standings. They will, however, move onto the post-season, which begins next weekend, but they won't know their opponent, or what position they finish in until after tomorrow night's match against the T-Birds.
 
Alberta and UBC are locked in a battle for second place, which the Birds currently own, courtesy the victory tonight, but it won't be resolved until after Saturday's night rematch. At 15-6, UBC is two points ahead of the Golden Bears, who have now lost two straight matches, for second place, but both teams will host a playoff quarterfinal best-of-three series no matter the outcome.
 
Ben Chow led the Birds with 18 kills, while Quentin Schmidt finished with 15. After Jay Olmstead's 20, Alberta got 17 from Kevin Proudfoot, including five in the fourth, while Tucker Leinweber finished with 13.
 
The two teams will play on Saturday at 5:00 pm to decide second place in Canada West.

U of A Athletics

#6 Thompson Rivers 3 Manitoba 1

Bisons-WolfPack Stats

by Larry Read, TRU Sports Information

KAMLOOPS, BC — It was Jacob Tricarico's night in more ways than one, as the fifth-year middle was honored before the #6 Thompson Rivers WolfPack defeated the Manitoba Bisons 3-1 on Friday at the TRU Gym.

Set scores were 26-24,22-25,25-21,25-20 as Tricarico racked up 13 kills.

Thompson Rivers moves to 13-8, while Manitoba falls to 9-12 and is virtually eliminated from the post season.

Colin Carson had 47 assists for the WolfPack and Stuart Richey had a team-high 11 digs.

Manitoba was led by Devren Dear, with 14 kills, and Adam DeJonckheere with 11 kills.

The victory cemented TRU's chances of hosting a Canada West quarter-final series next week, the first time that the school has hosted Canada West playoff action.

The teams close out the conference season on Saturday at 6:45 pm in the TRU Gym.

TRU Athletics

Mount Royal 3 #8 Saskatchewan 2

Cougars-Huskies Stats

by Nicole Betker, Huskies Sports Information

SASKATOON - With a 3-2 (24-26, 28-26, 26-28, 25-19, 15-10) Mount Royal Cougars win over the #8 Saskatchewan Huskies on Friday at the PAC the standings got a little muckier.
 
With the result both Mount Royal and Saskatchewan have 10-11 records, making Saturday's contest – the final in the season – of upmost importance. Only one of the two teams can earn a playoff spot and would be on the road for the conference quarter-final series.
 
Entering the final weekend of the regular season, both teams needed wins to help secure a date as one of the seven teams in the postseason. Four other teams (Calgary Dinos, Brandon Bobcats, Manitoba Bisons and Winnipeg Wesmen) are also looking for playoff life with similar records.
 
Colton deMan led the Cougars with an impressive match-high 26 kills. Jordan Parkin added anther 22 for the Cougars. Jordan Or recorded 22 digs in the affair.
 
Saskatchewan spread around the offence with five players with double-digits in kills. Paul Thomson led the group with 17 kills, followed by McLean at 13 and Nowakowski and Epp at 11.
 
The two teams will battle again Saturday night at the PAC in the final regular season match. First serve is 8 p.m. and can be viewed on canadawest.tv.
 
Huskie Athletics donated $2208 to KidSport, the team's charity of choice in a presentation during the volleyball match. KidSport is a children's charity dedicated to assisting children of families facing financial obstacles to participate in community sport programs. The KidSport goal is to provide these children with the opportunity to learn the fundamentals of teamwork, dedication and responsibility through participation in sport.

Huskie Athletics

#9 Brandon 3 Calgary 0

Bobcats-Dinos Stats

by Lindsay Franco, U of C Dinos Communications

CALGARY – The #9 Brandon Bobcats defeated the Calgary Dinos 3-0 (27-29, 26-28, 18-25) in a very important game to help determine the final spots in the playoff race.

With the loss, the Dinos fall to 10-11 while Brandon improves to the same record. A number of matches will need to be completed on Saturday to have a clear picture of who qualifies for playoffs and who does not. Calgary is still in contention.

Greg Mann recorded a team-high 16 kills on the night as the only player to reach double digits. He also had nine kills. Connor Frehlich added nine kills for the Dinos and Andrew Visser scored another eight.

For the Bobcats, Sebastien Steigmeier recorded a game-high 21 kills on the night, along with 10 digs. Dan Boutwell and Sam Truvai followed that up with 13 and 12 kills, respectively.

In a match that will determine the fate of both team's post season hopes, the Dinos and the Bobcats will re-match at Jack Simpson Gym at 6:30 p.m.

U of C Athletics

Regina 3 UBC Okanagan 2

Cougars-Heat Stats

by Cary Mellon, UBCO Sports Information

KELOWNA, BC - Down two sets to none, the Regina Cougars clawed their way back to win the final three sets and the match 3-2 (16-25, 27-29, 25-20, 25-15, 15-10) over the UBC Okanagan Heat on Friday night in Kelowna.
 
Davis Proch would finish with 42 assists, while offensively, Alex Swiatlowski and Lars Bornemann contributes 16 and 14 kills, respectively.
 
The Cougars would counter with 18 kills from Andrew Nelson, who became Regina's all-time single season kill leader with 275 kills this season.  Joel Legasse and Matthew Lueck would add 12 kills and 11 kills, respectively.
 
The win will see Regina move to 3-18, while the Heat drop to 4-17.
 
Both teams will be back in action on Saturday from UBC's Okanagan campus gymnasium, and pre-game the Heat will honour Nate Speijer and Davis Proch – their two graduates. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Heat Athletics

About Canada West Universities Athletic Association
Canada West is consistently the most decorated of the four conferences in Canadian Interuniversity Sport, winning 100 CIS national titles over titles the last 10 seasons. Comprised of 17 schools from the provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia, Canada West produces numerous major award winners and Academic All-Canadian student-athletes each year, with many going on to athletic success around the globe in pro leagues or events such as the Olympics, Paralympics or Universiade Games. canadawest.org / canadawest.tv / @cwuaa on Twitter

A proud member of Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS).