March 1st, 2011 - Langley, BC
This weekend marks the final weekend of the 2010-2011 CIS Volleyball season for the Spartans as they get set to host the CIS National Championship Tournament. If you didn't already know that then you: 1) are not a volleyball fan, 2) are not a Spartan fan or 3) don't know how you got to this blog.
Much has been made of the first round match up the Spartans have in the University of Alberta Bears. The #2 ranked team in the CIS had a tough weekend last weekend at the Canada West Final 4 losing to Brandon in the semi final and the Spartans in the Bronze medal match. Their reward for such a weekend was a fall to the #5 seed in the national tournament. Never mind the Bears won the Canada West regular season going 17-1 in the process playing 6 matches without two key starters. Never mind the fact they were "robbed" in the semi final against Brandon with a huge missed touch call on match point thus prolonging the match that would see the Bobcats win the 5th set. All of those points were overlooked and the Bears were rewarded for their season success with a date with the Spartans in the hostile Langley Events Centre on opening day of the tournament.
The Spartans on the other hand are glad to have the match up as it will provide an early tournament answer to the question every team is anxious to know: are we good enough to win this year? Often times it takes 2 or 3 matches to have that question answered at the National tournament. For the Spartans that question will be answered sometime between 8:00 and 8:30pm Friday, March 4th at the LEC. Win and the Spartans will have proven to themselves that they have enough in the tank to potentially win the tournament. Lose and it is not meant to be this season.
To get a better handle on what type of epic match we are in store for this weekend it is worth while to look at the history between these two programs in recent years. Alberta and TWU are the two most successful volleyball programs in the last 7 years. Alberta has 7 CIS medals to their credit (3 Gold, 3 Silver & 1 Bronze) while TWU has 5 (1 Gold, 2 Silver & 2 Bronze). No other CIS program has more than 2 (Winnipeg & Manitoba) in that same time period. So with these two juggernauts set to do battle in a quarter final one program will see their medal total remain unchanged for certain.
Not only have these two programs proven to be successful at the National tournament they have met frequently during the past 7 championships. The 2005 & 2006 finals were fought between these two teams with each winning the Championship once. In 2007 they met in the semifinal with Alberta coming out victorious only to lose to Winnipeg in the final while the Spartans beat UBC 3-0 in the bronze medal game. The Bears and Spartans have not met in a Championship tournament match since that day. While both have added to their medal total since this Friday marks the next chapter in the epic struggle for CIS volleyball superiority.
With other programs on the rise also appearing in the tournament this is by no means a two horse race. Brandon makes its second appearance in three years on the strength of perennial points leader Paul Sanderson's arm. Two seasons ago the Bobcats earned a bronze medal in Edmonton by defeating the McMaster Marauders earning their school's first national volleyball medal. Calgary has seen a resurgence as of late as they make their second consecutive Nationals appearance. Last year's Champion heads into this year's tournament as the #1 seed and tournament favourite. After needing 10 sets to win their first Canada West Title since 1994 the Dinos begin their title defense Friday night at 8pm against the 8th seed Sherbrooke Vert et Or.
The other major contender this weekend is the undefeated and #1 ranked team in the Nation, Universite de Laval Rouge et Or. While ranked #1 in the coach's poll Laval plays as the 2nd seed in this year's tournament. A quick look at the draw and it is clear that the 2nd seed is much more advantageous than the 1 seed seeing how 3 of the top 4 ranked teams in the country are on the top seed half of the draw. Laval is the only non-Canada West team to have won the CIS National Championship in a long, long, long time. Not since 1974 has another team other than Laval outside the Canada West Conference won a National Title (Sherbrooke). Last year's #1 seed looks to stop the western dominance in university volleyball this weekend.
Rounding out the National Tournament field are the University of New Bruinswick Varsity Reds and the McMaster Marauders. UNB knocked off Dalhousie ending a 24 year conference winning streak and a 30+ year Nationals appearance streak for the Halifax school. It is the Reds' second tournament appearance in 3 years with a 7th place finish in 2009. McMaster is a much more seasoned team at this tournament with 5 appearances in 6 years. While they were not expected to make it to this year's tournament due to a very young team they caught fire at the right time and have rattled off 10 consecutive wins en route to the OUA championships knocking off league Champ Western in the Final and preseason OUA favourite Queen's in the semi.
With many of the leagues best teams on display this coming weekend there should be some great matches. With the many upsets already to have happened thus far in the post season it is not too much of a stretch to think that this weekend will have some curves in the road to the Tantramar.
The tournament gets going on March 4th at 1pm as #2 Laval takes on #7 UNB. The rest of the schedule is:
3pm #3 Brandon vs #6 McMaster
6pm #4 Trinity Western University Spartans vs #5 Alberta
8pm #1 Calgary vs #8 Sherbrooke
As is usually the case the 4th & 5th seed match is usually the best of the first day and as articulated earlier this year is most certainly that case. In what could be the match of the tournament the Spartans will use the mighty force of the Spartan Faithful to help propel them to a victory over the perennial contenders Alberta Bears.
First serve 6pm, Friday, March 4th, 2011 @ the Langley Events Centre.
Go Spartans!!!
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