CALGARY - The University of Alberta's Main Gym is set to hold some of the very best in CIS men's and women's volleyball, as the No. 2 Alberta Pandas and No. 1 Alberta Golden Bears welcome the No. 3 Calgary Dinos women and the No. 4 Dinos men for a weekend series, tipping off Friday at 6:30 p.m.
Terry Danyluk's Golden Bears are 6-0 in conference play and 15-2 overall this season as defending CIS champions. Although Alberta serves as the host for the 2008-09 CIS men's volleyball championship Feb. 27-Mar. 1 and by such right is guaranteed a berth into the final eight, the Bears are gunning to keep their foot on the pedal through the Canada West regular season.
At stake is the conference championship as well as a potential number one ranking for the championship they'll be hosting. Having played two matches to five sets already this season (both 3-2 wins; over Brandon and Thompson Rivers) the team has been served notice that the road to nationals will be difficult.
The Bears will face their toughest test of the season this weekend in the fourth-ranked Dinos, who hold a 5-1 record in conference play. Their lone loss came in a weekend split, against the Trinity Western Spartans who are currently tied with Calgary for second place in Canada West. Calgary enters the weekend off a sweep of the Manitoba Bisons last weekend in the Jack Simpson Gym.
Calgary is led by a trio of outstanding middles in third year David Egan and veterans Oleg Podporin and Graham Vigrass. Egan and Podporin sit in the sixth and seventh spots respectively in conference blocking, while Egan and Vigrass are the second and third most accurate attackers in Canada West. Andrew Tallas and Allen Meek are the big hitters for the Dinos.
The Canada West men's volleyball stats are littered with Golden Bears: there are three in the top 10 in hitting percentage, two in the kills category, four among the conference service aces leaders and blockers and singles in the assists, points and dig departments. Fifth-year right side Joel Schmuland shows up the most, appearing in the digs, points, kills and hitting percentage lists.
The Golden Bears, the dynastic team in CIS men's volleyball over the past decade, has held a distinct advantage in head-to-head matches with their provincial rivals of late. The last Calgary win over Alberta came Jan. 25, 2002, a 3-1 Dinos win in the Jack. The losing skid against Alberta has reached 21 consecutive matches since then, but this Dinos team, possibly the strongest since that 2001-02 squad that featured CIS player of the year Denis Zhukov, seems poised to provide a stiffer challenge in 2008.
The competition is just as stiff on the women's side this weekend when the CIS's No team, Calgary, and No. 2 team, Alberta, meet.
Not only are the teams among the best in the country but they are also intense rivals who constantly bring out the best in each other. The teams have met in numerous big game scenarios are frequently using each other as a measuring stick.
The Dinos are 5-1 to start while Eisler's squad, defending Canada West champions, is off to an impressive 8-0 beginning and are first in the conference. Calgary played some of its best volleyball of the season last weekend to sweep the fifth-ranked Manitoba Bisons, moving to that 5-1 record. They face another stiff test this weekend in the Pandas, who are playing consistent volleyball.
That consistent level of play has led to the entire Alberta starting lineup taking up residence in the upper half of the conference statistical tables.
Holly Harper and a trio of “L's” lead the Dinos with Lauren Perry, Laura Spence and Laura Wilson all showing up among the Canada West leaders.
Dinos-Pandas match-ups are legendary and routinely go the maximum five sets. The Dinos took both conference matches between the teams last season, both by 3-2 scores in Calgary, while the Pandas took the conference final three sets to one. The two teams met again in the bronze medal match at the CIS championship in Fredericton, where the Dinos captured their fourth straight bronze medal with – you guessed it – a 3-2 win. Overall, Calgary is riding a five-match conference win streak against the Pandas, stretching back to Jan. 14, 2006.
Alberta took both pre-season matches between the teams this season by 3-2 and 3-1 scores.
The Dinos volleyball teams, having games in hand over most Canada West opponents, will finish the fall semester next weekend with a trip to Regina to take on the Cougars.
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