SUNDAY

#3t Alberta 3 Regina 0

Golden Bears-Cougars Stats

Courtesy U of Regina Sports Information

REGINA – The #3 Alberta Golden Bears dispatched the Regina Cougars in three sets on Sunday at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health & Sport.
 
The Golden Bears  opened the match with a 25-19 win in the first, then won 25-14 and 25-21 in the second and third sets to put away the Cougars. Alberta had some impressive offensive numbers in the win, hitting .405 as a team over the entire match including .481 in the third set alone.
 
Ryley Barnes and Jay Olmstead both had nine kills for Alberta with John Goranson adding eight while hitting .500 for the match. Setter Brett Walsh filled the stat sheet with 29 assists, seven digs, five blocks, and four kills, while Kevin Proudfoot chipped in with seven kills and seven digs. The Golden Bears improve to 10-4 on the season and are now tied with Thompson Rivers for second place.
 
Andre Borgeaud led the Cougars with nine kills and just three errors on 21 attacks and tied his brother Jacques Borgeaud for the team high with six digs. Matthew Lueck and Andrew Nelson both had six kills, while Caleb Eschbach dished out 26 assists for the Cougars (0-14).
 
Both teams will now prepare for provincial rivalry matches next weekend. The U of R will make the short trip north to Saskatoon for a pair of games against the University of Saskatchewan (5-9), while Alberta will host Calgary (8-6) at the Saville Community Sports Centre.

reginacougars.com

SATURDAY

#8 Saskatchewan 3 Winnipeg 0

Wesmen-Huskies Stats

by Nicole Betker, Huskies Sports Information

SASKATOON - The #8 Saskatchewan Huskies squeaked out a tight 3-0 (25-22, 31-29, 25-23) win over the visiting Winnipeg Wesmen on Saturday at the PAC.
 
Fourth-year outside hitter Paul Thomson led the Huskies in the victory with 16 kills and six digs. Fifth-year middle blocker Braden McLean added another nine kills and two blocks for Saskatchewan, while fifth-year outside hitter Bryan Fraser added another eight kills.
 
Matthew Schriemer led the Wesmen with 16 kills and eight digs on the night, while Tom Douglas-Powell recorded 10 kills and a match-high 12 digs.
 
With the win Saskatchewan improves to 5-9 on the season after the weekend split, while Winnipeg moves to 6-8.  A night earlier, Winnipeg won 3-2 (16-25, 25-22, 19-25, 25-23, 15-11).

The Huskies remain at home to host provincial-rival the Regina Cougars next weekend, while Winnipeg returns home to host the Thompson Rivers WolfPack.

Huskie Athletics

UBC Okanagan 3 #3t UBC 2

Thunderbirds-Heat Stats

by Cary Mellon, UBCO Sports Information

KELOWNA, BC - There's an old adage in volleyball that stresses the importance of being the first to reach 8 points in the fifth set, and the UBC Okanagan Heat men's volleyball team showed why in their Saturday night 3-2 (25-23, 25-27, 25-23, 18-25, 15-11) victory over the third-ranked UBC - their second in as many nights.

Player of the Game Alex Swiatlowski led all hitters with 20 kills on 39 attempts in the finest game of his young career. Nate Speijer provided 17 kills of his own, in addition to two service aces that came at important junctures in the match. As a team, the Heat out-blocked the T-Birds 12-10 and forced UBC to commit 29 errors.

For UBC, it was a better offensive game than the one previous for the Thunderbirds. Quentin Schmidt had 17 kills, Alex Russell had 15 kills, and Noah Derksen had 10 kills in the match, but as a team, UBC was only able to hit .203 over the course of the five sets. More importantly, UBC's team kill percentage in the fifth set was a paltry -.071.

The win sees the Heat's record improve to 4-10 on the season, as they open up 2014 with two straight victories. Meanwhile, UBC drops to 9-5 in what is becoming a very hotly contested Canada West playoff picture.

The Thunderbirds will return home to host the Brandon Bobcats next weekend, January 17th and 18th, while the Heat will make their way to Langley, BC to face the top-ranked Trinity Western Spartans.

Heat Athletics

#3t Alberta 3 Regina 0

Golden Bears-Cougars Stats

Courtesy U of Regina Sports Information

REGINA - Alberta defeated the Regina Cougars on Saturday afternoon in a three-set sweep at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health & Sport.

The #3 Golden Bears outlasted the Cougars for a 25-22 win in the first, then hit for a .474 percentage in a 25-16 second-set win and .448 in a 25-18 win in the third that clinched the match.

Ryley Barnes led the way with 13 kills for Alberta, which improves to 9-4 on the season. Kevin Proudfoot added 10 kills for the Golden Bears, while John Goranson had five kills and five blocks while leading all players with a .500 hitting percentage.

Andrew Nelson led the Cougars with 12 kills, while Jacques Borgeaud had a match-high six digs and setter Caleb Eschbach had 25 assists and five digs.

Alberta and Regina will meet again on Sunday following the conclusion of the women's match. First serve is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.

reginacougars.com

#7 Thompson Rivers 3 #5 Brandon 0

Bobcats-WolfPack Stats

by Larry Read, TRU Sports Information

KAMLOOPS, BC — Pat Hennelly believes his team could be playing the best volleyball Thompson Rivers has ever achieved in the CIS.  The Thompson Rivers men's coach should know - he's seen every match the WolfPack have played since they entered Canada West nine years ago.

After missing the post season the past two seasons, #7 TRU has solidified a playoff spot in 2013-14 after sweeping the #5 Brandon Bobcats this weekend. On Saturday at the Tournament Capital Centre the ‘Pack won 3-0.  The scores were 32-30, 26-24, 25-23.

TRU is now 10-4 on the season, while the Bobcats fall to 7-7.

The WolfPack won a see saw first set being powered by Brad Gunter, as he had 13 of his match high 28 kills in the first set. Gunter also added two service aces, 10 digs and a block assist. Colin Carson had 43 kills for TRU, with 23 coming in the marathon first set.

Brandon was led by Sebastien Steigmeier who had 19 kills in 39 opportunities with a service ace, nine digs and two block assists. David Stasica had  27 assists for Brandon, who move into UBC next weekend (Jan 17-18).

The WolfPack will be on the road as well next weekend: in Winnipeg against the Wesmen as they try to extend their winning streak to seven.

TRU returns home on January 24 th to face the top team in the nation and the Canada West---the Trinity Western University Spartans.  Game time will be 7:45 pm at the Tournament Capital Centre.

TRU WolfPack

#1t Trinity Western 3 Mount Royal 1

Cougars-Spartans Stats

by Mark Janzen, TWU Sports Information

LANGLEY, BC – With a balanced attack that saw four players earn at least nine kills, the CIS #1 Trinity Western Spartans earned a four-set win (29-31, 25-13, 25-21, 25-23) over Mount Royal Saturday at the Langley Events Centre.
 
Led by the three-pronged attack of left side Nick Del Bianco, who had 15 kills, middle Lucas Van Berkel, with 13 kills. Beyond the Spartans attack, Van Berkel had a match-high seven blocks while Brad Kufske had nine kills and 11 digs.
 
The victory improves TWU's record to 13-1 on the season while the loss drops MRU to 6-8.
 
On an evening when both liberos had nights to remember – MRU's Jordan Or collected 20 digs and TWU's Tyler Koslowsky had 13 digs – the teams combined for 122 digs in a match that saw a number of extended rallies.
 
The Cougars were led by Riley Friesen who had 12 kills and five blocks and Grigor Kartev who had 10 kills and four blocks. Colton deMan, who has led MRU offensively all year, was held to four kills and three blocks.
 
The Spartans are back on home court next weekend when they host UBC Okanagan Friday and Saturday while Mount Royal will travel to play Manitoba.

TWU Athletics

#9 Manitoba 3 Calgary 1

Bisons-Dinos Stats

by Lindsay Franco, U of C Sports Information

CALGARY – The Calgary Dinos were unable to sweep the visiting #9 Manitoba Bisons on Saturday when they fell 3-1 (20-25, 19-25, 25-17, 23-25) at Jack Simpson Gym.

With the loss, the Dinos remain in fifth place in the conference, while the Bisons improve to 6-8.

Calgary's Connor Frehlich led the way with 11 kills as the only Dino to get into double digits. Setter Jackson Maris, who came in after the first set off the bench, recorded 21 assists and eight digs.

For the Bisons, Devren Dear was once again the top scorer with 11 kills and a total of 14.5 points. Kevin Falconer scored another ten kills, while middle Kenny Rooney added nine.
 
While the Bisons get set to host the Mount Royal Cougars next weekend, the Dinos will take on the Alberta Bears in another installment of the Battle of Alberta.

U of C Athletics

FRIDAY

#1t Trinity Western 3 Mount Royal 0

Cougars-Spartans Stats

by Mark Janzen, TWU Spartans Sports Informnation

LANGLEY, BC – Playing their most efficient volleyball of the season, the CIS #1-ranked Trinity Western hit .514 as a team en route to a 3-0 (25-18, 25-15, 25-19) win over Mount Royal on Friday at the Langley Events Centre.

Trinity Western's Brad Kufske led the way for the Spartans as he hit a career-high .733 with 12 kills and just one attack error. His previous career-high was .556 earlier this year against Alberta on Nov. 9. Kufske also had four aces. Nick Del Bianco added eight kills without committing a single attack error and also had two aces. Lucas Van Berkel had a match-high four blocks to go with four kills.
 
The Cougars were led by Colton deMan, who had seven kills and one block while Grigor Kartev added six kills and one block. Libero Jordan Or had a match-high 11 digs. deMan has averaged 4.92 points per set, but he was held to 7.5 points over the three-set match.
 
The teams will meet in a rematch on Saturday at the LEC at 7 p.m.

TWU Athletics

UBC Okanagan 3 #3t UBC 0

Thunderbirds-Heat Stats

by Cary Mellon, UBCO Heat Communications

KELOWNA, BC - Eleven kills by rookie Lars Bornemann, coupled with 12 total team blocks, fueled the 2-8 UBC Okanagn Heat in their straight-set 3-0 (25-16, 25-21, 25-22) upset victory over the CIS #3-ranked UBC Thunderbirds on Friday.
 
For the Thunderbirds, Alex Russell lead the way with 10 kills, while Noah Derksen added 7 kills.
 
The win sees the Heat improve to 3-10, while the loss will drop the Thunderbirds to 9-4.
 
With tonight's win UBC Okanagan climbs to 3-4 in Kelowna, and the Heat will hope to continue to be tough at home when they will resume the UBC-UBC weekend series on Saturday from UBC's Okanagan campus gym, with the first set scheduled for 7 p.m. Watch the action at canadawest.tv.

Heat Athletics

Calgary 3 #9 Manitoba 0

Bisons-Dinos Stats

by Lindsay Franco, U of C Sports Information

CALGARY – The #9 Manitoba Bisons were no match for the Calgary Dinos on Friday when they won their first match of 2014 3-0 (25-21, 25-22, 27-25) at Jack Simpson Gymnasium.

The Dinos continue to improve their record, now at 8-5, while the Bisons drop to 5-8, despite a top ten ranking.

Calgary's offence was spread throughout their hitters tonight as both Greg Mann and Sean Tuff recorded nine kills in the three-set win. Ivan Kartev and Andrew Visser both scored seven kills each. Setter Alex Cook had a game-high 32 assists on the night.

For the Bisons, Devren Dear had a game-high 13 kills in the match followed by seven more from Adan DeJonckheere. Setter Luke Herr added 29 assists.

The Dinos and the Bisons will go at it again on Saturday at 6:30 p.m., following the women's match.

U of C Athletics

#7 Thompson Rivers 3 #5 Brandon 2

Bobcats-WolfPack Stats

by Larry Read, TRU Sports Information

KAMLOOPS, BC - The #5 Brandon Bobcats and #7 Thompson Rivers WolfPack have had some epic battles since the two schools entered Canada West men's volleyball nine years ago.  Another chapter was added on Friday at the Tournament Capital Centre.

The Bobcats and the WolfPack waged a five set battle.  TRU coming out on top 3-2.  The scores were 23-25,25-18,24-26,27-25,15-9.

The WolfPack move to 9-4 on the season, while Brandon dips to 7-6.

The WolfPack got another ‘ all-star' type performance from Brad Gunter, with a match-high 30 kills, two service aces, 14 digs, one solo block and four block assists. Stuart Richey had 11 kills in 19 opportunities with eight digs and a solo block.

For Brandon, Sam Tuivai had 16 kills, two service aces, six digs and a block assist.  Frank Jones notched 13 kills, with five digs and four block assists.

The WolfPack and Brandon will do battle again on Saturday at the Tournament Capital Centre. Game time is 6:45 p.m.

TRU WolfPack

Winnipeg 3 #8 Saskatchewan 2

Wesmen-Huskies Stats

by Nicole Betker, Huskies Sports Information

SASKATOON - The visiting Winnipeg Wesmen completed a 3-2 (16-25, 25-22, 19-25, 25-23, 15-11) comeback win over the #8 Saskatchewan Huskies to open the second half of the Canada West men's volleyball season on Friday at the PA.

With the win Winnipeg improves to 6-7, while Saskatchewan drops to 4-9. Both teams need a strong second half of the season to keep pace in the playoff race.
 
Tom Douglas-Powell led the Wesmen in the win recording a match-high 8 kills. Schriemer added another 14, while Casey Schouten added another 10. Matthew Stubler had 11 digs for Winnipeg.
 
Thomson recorded 13 kills and 11 digs for the Huskies, while Nowakowski tallied 12 kills. Bryan Fraser and Tyler Epp each added another 11 kills for Saskatchewan.
 
The two teams will meet again Saturday at the PAC. Match time is 8 p.m. A video feed can be watched on canadawest.tv.

Huskie Athletics

About Canada West Universities Athletic Association
Canada West is consistently the most decorated of the four conferences in Canadian Interuniversity Sport, winning 100 CIS national over the last 10 seasons. Comprised of 17 schools from the provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia, Canada West produces numerous major award winners and Academic All-Canadian student-athletes each year, with many going on to athletic success around the globe in pro leagues or events such as the Olympics, Paralympics or Universiade Games. canadawest.org / canadawest.tv / @cwuaa on Twitter

A proud member of Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS).