EDMONTON (CIS) – The No. 1-seeded and tournament host Alberta Golden Bears repeated as CIS men’s volleyball champions with a dominating 25-20, 25-22, 25-17 gold-medal win over the No. 2 Laval Rouge et Or, Sunday night, at the University of Alberta’s Main Gym.
The Golden Bears, which have now won six Tantramar trophies (2008-09, ‘07-08, ‘04-05, ‘01-02, ‘96-97, ‘80-81) since the inaugural CIS championship in 1967, became the first team to repeat as national champions since the 2000-01 Manitoba Bisons and the first team crowned on home court since the 2001-02 Bears.
Alberta was making an astounding eighth straight appearance in the CIS title match, winning half of them.
“I feel a little bit of relief for our guys, they worked so hard all year. But I also feel a lot of happiness,” said Alberta head coach Terry Danyluk.
“We have a lot of really good players on this team. But the word is team. It was just a huge team effort,” added Danyluk, named CIS coach of the year for a record-tying fifth time this season.
Three-time national champion Laval (1993-94, ’91-92, ’89-90) was the first squad from outside the Canada West conference to play for CIS gold since the 2000-01 Rouge et Or, who lost 3-1 to Manitoba in the final that year.
“Alberta was simply the better team tonight. They’re a great team,” said Laval coach Pascal Clément. They served really hard, they had us on our heels all night. We were never able to get things going.”
“We have to think about not only what we did tonight, but what we did over the last eight years to get back to the national final. We have nothing to be ashamed of,” Clément added.
Three days after being named CIS player of the year, fifth-year right side Joel Schmuland (Calgary) capped off a dream weekend earning tournament-MVP honours and winning his third CIS gold medal – the first at home - in his final outing as a Bear.
“It’s gonna hit me in a couple of days, maybe a couple of weeks, couple of months,” said the 6-foot-7 senior. “Playing at home was incredible, but winning at home is even better.”
Schmuland and fellow fifth-year senior Tim Gourlay (Grande Prairie, Alta.) both finished the match with 10 kills, Gourlay committing only attacking one error for an impressive .429 hitting efficiency.
“This is just amazing, I can’t find the right words to describe what I’m feeling right now,” said Gourlay, who was named game MVP for Alberta. “We have a special group of guys. Everyone did their job tonight and that’s why we won.”
Fourth-year Alberta setter Mike DeRocco (Winnipeg) had 30 set assists and was named to the tournament all-star team alongside Schmuland, Laval teammates Frédéric Desbiens and Olivier Faucher, Brandon’s Joel Small and Andrew Korol, and Nathan Groenveld of McMaster.
Desbiens, a sophomore hitter from La Malbaie, Que., led all players on the court in the final with 15 kills and 16 points.
Faucher (Plessisville, Que.), a four-time all-Canadian wearing the Rouge et Or colours for the last time, had 38 assists, while CIS libero of the year Nicolas Quirion (Arthabaska, Que.) had a match-high 13 defensive digs.
First Team All-Canadian left side Thiery Lavigne (Rockland, Ont.) struggled in his final university outing, tallying seven kills and committing five attacking errors.
While Laval finished with a 39-38 edge in kills, the Rouge et Or committed eight more attacking errors and seven more service mistakes than their rivals. Alberta dominated at the net with 19 assisted and two solo blocks, compared to seven and four for Laval.
Despite the relatively close final score, the result of the duel between the top two teams in the nation never seemed in doubt, Alberta leading every set almost from start to finish.
The rivals came into Sunday’s final as the only two undefeated sides in the nation, having both kept perfect 18-0 records in the regular season and 2-0 marks in the conference playoffs. Alberta topped all 13 national coaches polls in 2008-09, while Laval was ranked third seven times and second in the last six polls.
But when it counted the most, the Bears were just too much for the Quebec champions.
Alberta dominated the first two sets in identical fashion.
In the initial frame, the locals took an 8-5 lead into the first technical timeout and a 16-11 advantage into the second mandatory break, before closing things out at 25-20.
In the second stanza, the Bears went into the breaks ahead 8-4 and 16-11, before increasing their lead to 24-20. Laval managed to save a pair of set points to make it a two-point affair but Schmuland shattered any hopes of a comeback with a thunderous game-ending kill.
The Rouge et Or offered a better opposition in the first part of the third period.
The visitors held an early 6-5 edge but Alberta responded with six straight points to take an 11-6 lead, which they quickly improved to 14-10.
Laval refused to quit scoring four consecutive points and tying the affair at 14 all on a Desbiens block of Schmuland.
That’s when the Bears decided they had enough. The champions put the match away with six straight points of their own, ending the duel on an 11-3 run.
Thompson Rivers will host the 2010 CIS men’s volleyball championship in Kamloops, B.C.