QF #2 50th CIS men’s volleyball championship, presented by Leggat Auto Group: Golden Bears Stifle Rouge et Or En Route to Sweep

HAMILTON (CIS) – The two-time defending CIS champions, the Alberta Golden Bears put their strength on display Thursday, delivering a dominant performance at the quarterfinal stage of the 50th Men's Volleyball Championship presented by Leggat Auto Group.

Fresh from the disappointment of a shock semifinal loss in the Canada West playoffs, the sixth-seeded Golden Bears handily out-played the third-seeded Laval Rouge et Or, en route to a sweep (25-15, 25-19, 25-19) and a berth in Friday's semifinal round, where they will rematch that fateful semifinal against the Trinity Western Spartans.

The Spartans booked their spot in the last four with a victory in Thursday's opening quarterfinal against the Ryerson Rams.

Blocking was the story of Alberta's masterful quarterfinal, as the Golden Bears tallied 16 blocks as a team, and held the Rouge et Or to a team hitting percentage of just nine. CIS Second Team All-Canadian Taylor Arnett was the leader of the block party, and was named as his team's player of the game after a performance that included four blocks, eight kills and a team-leading total of 14 points.

"We knew that we had to play our game and get our identity back," said Arnett. "We lost the Canada West semifinal and we weren't really playing Golden Bears volleyball. It was our focus to bring that identity back and blocking is a part of that."

Alberta head coach Terry Danyluk believed that it was his team's attention to detail that ultimately led to their stifling defence on Thursday.

"We talked about Laval having some pretty strong tendencies, and I thought that they hit on those," said Danyluk. "The big thing for us was not just to reach high on the block but to reach over. Our outside hitters got a lot of touches just by sealing the edges."

The match was one-sided from the first set forward, and Alberta was in full offensive stride en route to nine kills and just two errors in the opener (39 per cent). On the other end, the Golden Bears forced 11 hitting errors from the Rouge et Or, and pushed the RSEQ champions into a negative hitting percentage (-6).

Offensive improvement in the second set allowed the Rouge et Or to hang in, and they found themselves tied with the Golden Bears at 17 after a kill from Olivier Jannini. But the defending champions immediately snuffed out hopes that the Rouge et Or would steal a set, embarking on an 8-2 run to end the second set, and taking it on a kill from Ryan Nickifor.

That was the crucial moment for Laval head coach Pascal Clément, who was disappointed by his team's mentality on Thursday.

"I expected my team to be more enthusiastic and aggressive throughout the game," he said. "We looked a bit nervous and intimidated to start the match. I thought it would pass, and that we would gain confidence in the second set. After 17-17 in the second, it was 23-18 in a minute."

Even while Laval's offensive output continued to improve, as they hit 24 per cent in the third set, Alberta's did as well. The Bears had 14 kills and just four errors to close out the match (42 per cent), and ended it with a kill from 2015 CIS Player of the Year Ryley Barnes.

STAT LEADERS

Alberta
Kills: Ryan Nickifor (8), Taylor Arnett (8)
Points: Taylor Arnett (14), Ryan Nickifor (11.5)
Blocks: Taylor Arnett (4), John Goranson (4.5)
Digs: John Goranson (5), Ryley Barnes (5)
Service aces: Taylor Arnett (2)

Player of the match: Taylor Arnett

Laval
Kills: Olivier Jannini (9), Vicente Parraguirre-Villalobos (7)
Points: Olivier Jannini (9), Vicente Parraguirre-Villalobos (7)
Blocks: Laurent Mailhot (1)
Digs: Bruno Lortie (6)
Service aces: None

Player of the match: Hugo Léger

CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE & RESULTS

Thursday, March 10
13:00 Quarter-final #1: Trinity Western 3, Ryerson 1 (25-15, 15-25, 25-15, 25-15)
15:00 Quarter-final #2: Alberta 3, Laval 0 (25-15, 25-19, 25-19)
18:00 Quarter-final #3: Saskatchewan vs. UNB (www.CIS-SIC.tv)
20:00 Quarter-final #4: Waterloo vs. McMaster (Cable 14 & www.CIS-SIC.tv)

Friday, March 11
13:00 Consolation #1: Ryerson vs. Laval #2 (Cable 14 & www.CIS-SIC.tv)
15:00 Consolation #2: Loser QF #3 vs. Loser QF #4 (Cable 14 & www.CIS-SIC.tv)
18:00 Semifinal #1: Trinity Western vs. Alberta #2 (Cable 14 & www.CIS-SIC.tv)
20:00 Semifinal #2: Winner QF #3 vs. Winner QF #4 (Cable 14 & www.CIS-SIC.tv)

Saturday, March 12
13:00 5th place (Cable 14 & www.CIS-SIC.tv)
15:00 Bronze medal (Cable 14 & www.CIS-SIC.tv)
18:00 Championship final (Cable 14 & www.CIS-SIC.tv) *

* Tape delayed to 22:00 on Cable 14.