CIS men's volleyball Saturday roundup: Dal Tigers claim AUS championship banner

Source: Paul Cartledge, Alberta Sports Info

EDMONTON – Continuing his veteran offensive leadership, senior left side Jay Olmstead propelled the No.3 University of Alberta Golden Bears to a straight-sets win (25-23, 25-13, 25-18) over the University of Calgary Dinos, also sweeping Calgary in a best-of-three quarterfinal series, Saturday afternoon at Saville Community Sports Centre.

The current Canada West Male Athlete of the Week spun 11 kills, totaling 24 kills in six sets on the weekend, and added an ace while sophomore setter Brett Walsh recorded 26 assists.

Fifth-year outside hitter Greg Mann had a team-high eight kills for the Dinos, third-year setter Jackson Maris netting a game-high 27 assists.

Starting up where the teams left off on Friday, the opening set was another back-and-forth affair, neither team opening a large lead on the opposition.

A 7-2 run by Alberta got the point differential to a max of four, but the Dinos battled back to tie the score at 19. When third-year left side Ryley Barnes put the Bears up 24-22, a Calgary timeout produced Mann’s sixth kill of the set but Barnes replied with a strike to the middle of the Dino court to give Alberta a 1-0 set lead.

Starting the middle set, attack errors by the Bears yielded a 2-0 lead on the score clock for the Dinos before a 10-1 run by the home team created the most uneven set of the series, Calgary trying to pick away at their large deficit before Olmstead took centre stage.

The Edmonton native blocked a Mann attack attempt, scored a kill off the foot of Dino outside hitter Andrew Visser, and added another off a Calgary block to get three of Alberta’s last four points to end the set for a commanding 2-0 set lead.

The Harry Ainlay high school grad and Barnes combined for 11 kills and three aces in the final set, Olmstead putting down four straight kills late in the set to keep the momentum in Alberta’s favour. The Dinos and Bears then went point for point as the set wound down, Visser’s serve going long to end the match.

With the victory, Alberta advances to the Canada West Final Four next weekend at Trinity Western University, hosted by the Spartans. The Dinos, on the other hand, will wait for the conference champion and the runner-up at the CIS Championships, hosted by Calgary from February 28 to March 2.

Source: Thomas Wison for UNB Sports Information

FREDERICTON, N.B. - The Dalhousie Tigers defeated the UNB Varsity Reds by a score of 3-2 at the Richard J. Currie Centre Saturday evening in match 2 of the 2014 Subway AUS men's volleyball championship series.
 
The win sealed the best-of-three series 2-0 earning the Tigers the title of AUS men's volleyball champions, as well as giving them a birth in the CIS national championship tournament.
 
The Subway Player of the Game award was given to Alex Dempsey who had with a team-high 15 kills. His teammate Bryan Duquette added 12 kills and led the team in digs with 16. Connor Maesson led the Tigers in blocks with 11.
 
Einvind Andersen led the V-Reds in kills with 18 as well as in digs with 21. Logan Keoughan led UNB in blocks with seven.
 
With the win, the Tigers look qualify for the CIS championship which will be hosted Feb. 27 to March 1 by the University of Calgary.
 
AUS coach of the year Dan Ota is excited to get his team back to CIS championshi competition after a one-year hiatus.
 
"Your record going into that tournament means nothing," he said. "We've seen some great teams lose in the first round in that tournament. I really feel we've got a group that is capable of winning a national championship."

Source: Peter Reimer, Queen's Sports Information Assistant

WATERLOO, Ont. - Queen's snagged the first set 25-22, jumping out to an early lead in the match against the favourites, the No. 9 Waterloo Warriors, who stormed back in the next three sets, 25-17, 25-21, and 27-25, to win the match 3-1.
 
With the loss, the Gaels fall out of the playoff picture, as Waterloo advances to the OUA Final Four at McMaster.
 
In their final game of the 2013-2014 season, Queen's gave it their all, taking a set off the third-place team in the OUA. With the match and season on the line in the fourth set, the Gaels battled back to tie the game late with an ace serve from Mike Tomlinson (Stratford, Ont.), forcing the set into extra points, where the Warriors prevailed.
 
Tomlinson led the Gaels offensively, picking up a game-high 20 points on 15 thunderous kills and four service aces. Ivo Dramov (Plovdiv, Bulgaria) had half of the Gaels digs, keeping 12 of Waterloo's attacks from hitting the floor.
 
James Evans had 14 kills for the winning Warriors, and Zachary Doherty chipped in 11 kills, while leading Waterloo on defense with 14 digs.
 
Queen's finished the regular season 9-11, good for sixth in the OUA. Waterloo is off to the OUA Final Four at McMaster after finishing the regular season 16-4, earning a matchup against No. 8 Western on Friday at 5:30pm.