SEMI-FINAL #1 50th CIS men’s volleyball championship: Trinity Western punches ticket to CIS final in five set heavy weight tilt

Photo credit Alistair Boulby

HAMILTON (CIS) – It was a heavyweight fight between two of the best in the CIS, and the battle will soon not be forgotten, as the Trinity Western Spartans edged the Alberta Golden Bears in five sets to advance to the 50th CIS men's volleyball championship final.

Trinity Western will play the winner of the evening semifinal between host McMaster and Saskatchewan. The CIS final is set for 6:00 pm (EST) on Saturday at Burridge Gym at McMaster University.

This battle was brewing all season long, as Alberta swept the season series with two wins in Canada West league play, while Trinity Western beat out the Golden Bears when it counted in postseason play. The Spartans up-ended Alberta in the Canada West semifinal just a week ago and knocked them into the bronze medal game, with set scores of 18-25, 25-20, 25-19, 20-25 and 15-11.

Trinity Western's Black Scheerhorn of Belleville, Ont., was masterful on Friday, claiming player of the game honours for the Spartans tallying 25 kills on 52 attacks to go along with two aces and a game high 30 points.

"It feels pretty amazing," said Scheerhorn following play. "We knew this was a great Alberta team and that they were going to have a fire in their bellies, because we beat them in the Canada West semifinal, and it was going to be a battle tonight."

"We kept our heads on straight and knew that if we played our block defence, we'd be able to get out of tough situations. Patience was the key. We were patient with the ball, and it helped us in the end."

Ryan Sclater was the other Spartan to register double digts in points, recording 21 along with 18 kills. Spartans setter Adam Schriemer of Winnipeg quarterbacked the offence with 50 assists.

Alberta was handicapped early in the first set with the loss of Taylor Arnett of Calgary, who suffered a leg injury in the first set. Earlier this week, Arnett was named as a middle to the CIS All-Canadian second team.

Trinity Western's Head Coach Ben Josephson, who is in his ninth season with the Spartans knew that was a big loss for Alberta given the teams history against each other.

"It's disappointing when a great player goes down. You never want to play someone undermanned," said Josephson. "They paid a big price to get into this match, and it's tough that Taylor had to go down. We were playing with one of our middles pretty sick, and that's just the way it is at this time of the year.

Golden Bears setter Brett Walsh of Calgary recorded a tournament high 60 assists in the five set slug fest, recording 13 digs along with seven points in the loss for Alberta.

"It really was a great match, and a lot of fun to play," said Walsh, the 2016 CIS Player of the Year. "It's [too bad] to be on the losing end of it for sure. But that's what we play for, we want these competitive situations at this time of the year. We put ourselves in the right position, we just came up short today."

Ryley Barnes of St. Paul, Alta., had 24 kills for the Golden Bears while Ryan Kickifor of Sherwood Park. Alta., had 23, wih both players tallying 25 points for the team lead.

The heavyweight battle was back and forth with neither team gaining too much momenium throughout. The biggest lead was in the first set with Alberta holding a seven-point advantage to secure a 1-0 lead. Trinity Western roared right back, claiming the next two sets before Alberta rebounded in the fourth to set up the deciding frame.

In the fifth set, the two teams traded leads six times before the Spartans were able to gain the final advantage at 10-9. From there, Scheerhoorn and Sclater registered two kills and the Spartans forced Alberta to make a handful of mental errors to give the game to Trinity Western.

STAT LEADERS

Trinity Western
Kills: Blake Sheerhoorn (25), Ryan Sclater (18)
Points: Blake Sheerhoorn (30), Ryan Sclater (21)
Blocks: Blake Sheerhoorn (3), Aaron Boettcher (3)
Digs: Tyler Koslowsky (8)
Service aces: Blake Sheerhoorn (2), Adam Schriemer (2)

Player of the match: Blake Sheerhoorn

Alberta
Kills: Ryley Barnes (24), Ryan Nickifor (23)
Points: Ryley Barnes (25), Ryan Nickifor (25)
Blocks: Brett Walsh (2)
Digs: Brett Walsh (13)
Service aces: Arran Chambers (2)

Player of the match: Ryan Nickifor

CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE & RESULTS

Thursday, March 10
13:00 Quarter-final #1: Trinity Western 3, Ryerson 1 (25-19, 25-22, 23-25, 26-24)
15:00 Quarter-final #2: Alberta 3, Laval 0 (25-15, 25-19, 25-19)
18:00 Quarter-final #3: Saskatchewan 3, UNB 2 (23-25, 25-20, 19-25, 25-20, 15-10)
20:00 Quarter-final #4: McMaster 3, Waterloo 0 (25-15, 25-15, 25-18)

Friday, March 11
13:00 Consolation #1: Laval 3, Ryerson 2 (22-25, 25-23, 23-25, 25-17 16-14)
15:00 Consolation #2: UNB 3, Waterloo 1 (23-25, 21-25, 25-18, 25-23, 15-10)
18:00 Semifinal #1: Trinity Western 3, Alberta 2 (18-25, 25-20, 25-19, 20-25, 15-11)
20:00 Semifinal #2: Saskatchewan vs. McMaster (Cable 14 & www.CIS-SIC.tv)

Saturday, March 12
13:00 5th place: Laval vs. UNB (Cable 14 & www.CIS-SIC.tv)
15:00 Bronze: Alberta vs. TBD (Cable 14 & www.CIS-SIC.tv)
18:00 Championship final: Trinity Western vs. TBD (Cable 14 & www.CIS-SIC.tv) *

* Tape delayed to 22:00 on Cable 14.