Calgary 3 UBC 1
(Calgary wins best-of-three quarter-final 2-0; advances to Final Four at Alberta)
Thunderbirds-Dinos Stats
by Ben Matchett, U of Calgary Sports Information
CALGARY – It took four grueling sets, but the CIS #3-ranked Calgary Dinos finished off a sweep of the UBC Thunderbirds in their Canada West quarter-final series with a 3-1 win Friday afternoon in the Jack Simpson Gym (25-19, 25-17, 29-31, 26-24).
Led by a sparkling 17-kill from Allen Meek, the defending CIS champion Dinos booked their ticket to the Canada West Final Four next weekend in Edmonton, where they will join the host Golden Bears.
Meek’s 17 kills paced the Dinos, while Graham Vigrass added 12 and Nutma chipped in 10. Setter Jay Blankenau had a match-high 13 digs for the Calgary Dinos, two better than UBC’s Blair Bann, who played in his final CIS match. Robert Bennett led the way for UBC with 16 kills, while Cordonier added 11 and Ben Chow 10.
While UBC heads into the off-season, the Dinos will be the second seed at the conference Final Four next weekend in Edmonton.
godinos.com
Trinity Western 3 Thompson Rivers 0
WolfPack-Spartans Stats
by Mark Janzen, TWU Sports Info Assistant
LANGLEY, BC – The Trinity Western Spartans advanced to the Canada West Final Four with a two-match sweep of Thompson Rivers, wrapping up the series with a 3-0 (25-18, 25-21, 25-20) win on Friday at the Langley Events Centre.
With Rudy Verhoeff, 18 kills, and Josh Doornenbal, 15 kills, leading the Spartans attack, TWU not only earned a spot in the Final Four in Edmonton but also earned a little redemption over TRU, as it was the WolfPack who knocked TWU out of the playoffs two years ago in a three-match series played at the David E. Enarson Gymnasium.
Josh Doornenbal led TWU with 10 digs, while Ben Ball had 39 assists and Dan Jansen Van Doorn and Rudy Verhoeff each had four blocks. After Kevin Tillie’s eight kills, both Ryan Talsma and Alex Davis had six kills each, while Colin Carson led TRU with eight digs.
The Spartans will go into the Canada West Final Four as the third seed Feb. 25-26 at Alberta and will play Calgary in the opening match. With TWU hosting the CIS National Championship, all four teams going to the Final Four will automatically qualify for Nationals.
TWU Athletics
Manitoba 3 Brandon 2
Bobcats-Bisons Stats
by Andrew Parker, U of Manitoba ports Info Assistant
WINNIPEG - The CIS #5-ranked Manitoba Bisons kicked off their playoffs against the #7 Brandon Bobcats with a win of 3-2 (25-18, 20-25, 25-23, 21-25, 15-9) in Match 1 of the Canada West quarter-final best-of-three series at the Investors Group Athletic Centre (U of Manitoba campus) on Friday.
Dane Pischke powered the Bisons, with 22 kils, while teammate Chris Voth put down 18. Paul Sanderson led Brandon with 24 kills, while Kevin Miller had 20.
The Bisons play Brandon in Match 2 on Saturday at 7:00 p.m. CT.
gobisons.ca