KAMLOOPS, B.C. – Seventeen long years after their last appearance in the national title game, the University of Calgary Dinos made the most of their opportunity by defeating the Trinity Western Spartans 3-1 to capture the CIS national championship Sunday night in Kamloops, B.C. (25-22, 25-21, 23-25, 27-25).

BOX SCORE

It was the Dinos' first trip to the national tournament since 2003, and they climbed to the top of the podium the hard way – entering the tournament as the sixth seed, then defeating two conference champions in Dalhousie and Alberta before getting the last laugh on a Spartans team that had defeated them in the Canada West semi-final last weekend in Edmonton.

The win is the fourth men's volleyball title in the University of Calgary's history after previous wins in 1982, 1989, and 1993. It is the 41st CIS championship in the Dinos' history across all sports and the third in 2009-10, following the men's and women's swimming victories in February.

It is also the first championship for a men's team sport at the University of Calgary since the 1995 Vanier Cup, and it came from a group that hopes to re-establish the storied history of the Dinos men's volleyball program.

"This is the best, this is the most fantastic reward for a group of kids that committed to a program that wasn't very good four years ago," said Rod Durrant, who led the Dinos from a 4-14 record to the national title in just his fourth season at the helm of the program. "They bought in, and they're young men that grew a lot in four years, and I couldn't be happier for them."

"There's no better way this could have ended for us," said Oleg Podporin, one of six fifth-year seniors on the team. "We're a really tight group of guys. When we lost to Winnipeg (last season in the opening round of the Canada West playoffs), we started 6 a.m. morning workouts the next day and nobody complained. Everyone worked hard over the summer, and since the first day this season everyone has been giving it 100 per cent. We played as a group of brothers tonight."

Calgary came out firing in the match, never trailing in the first set en route to a 25-22 win in front of a partisan Trinity Western crowd at the Tournament Capital Centre on the campus of Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops. After the Spartans opened a 6-2 lead early in the second, the Dinos stormed back to take a 25-21 win to take a 2-0 lead in the match

With no room for error on their side, the fourth-seeded Spartans took a 25-23 win in the third set to force a fourth – which the Dinos won 27-25 on their fourth national championship point when Marc Howatson's attack sailed out of bounds.

Having come back from a two-zero deficit against the Dalhousie Tigers in Friday night's quarterfinal, the Dinos were wary of a team getting momentum and Durrant's crew was focused on grabbing the opportunity when it presented itself.

"After we lost the third set, we talked about how we needed to get back to the way we had played in the first two," said Podporin. "We went back to that, and we won."

"The first two sets we played great, we were relaxed, we were calm," Durrant commented. "The third set I thought we still played great, but we got a couple of bad breaks and they made some great digs. They didn't give you a darn point. But we were patient and confident and it's rewarding to see us execute like that. Our theme this weekend has been 'stay in the moment,' and we were able to do that and pull it out."

Third-year right side Graham Vigrass was named the tournament MVP after yet another outstanding outing, racking up a 16-kill, 10-dig double-double. He was joined on the All-Tournament team by setter Jay Blankenau, who also had 10 digs to go with 36 assists.

In his final CIS game, second team All-Canadian Podporin hit 56.2 per cent, scoring 10 kills on 16 tries.

The Spartans were led by Steven Marshall's 24 kills, with Howatson adding 12 and Rudy Verhoeff 10. Howatson and Marshall joined Vigrass and Blankenau on the tournament all-star team, which also included Kevan Tillie of the host Thompson Rivers WolfPack, Alberta's Spencer Leiske, Bryan Fautley of Queen's, and Pierre-Alexis Lapointe of Laval.

After committing 21 service errors in the semi-final against Alberta, the Dinos ended up on the other side of that equation in the championship match with just 11 compared to 17 for the Spartans. Calgary also out-aced Trinity Western by a 7-2 margin.

The Spartans, who return their entire squad next season, host the 2011 CIS Men's Volleyball Championship in Langley, B.C.

STATS LEADERS

Calgary
Kills: Graham Vigrass (16), Curtis James (11), Oleg Podporin (10)
Digs: Tom Porta (12), Graham Vigrass (10), Jay Blankenau (10)
Assists: Jay Blankenau (36)
 
BlackBerry player of the match: Graham Vigrass
 
Trinity Western
Kills: Steven Marshall (24), Marc Howatson (12),Rudy Verhoeff (10)
Digs: Jarrod Offereins (13), Steven Marshall (10), Ben Ball (10)
Assists: Ben Ball (51)
 
TOURNAMENT AWARDS:

MVP:  Graham Vigrass (Calgary)
 
All-Stars:  
Kevin Tillie (Thompson Rivers)
Spencer Leiske (Alberta)
Marc Howatson (Trinity Western)
Steven Marshall (Trinity Western)
Jay Blankenau (Calgary)
Bryan Fautley (Queen's)
Pierre-Alexis Lapointe (Laval)
 
R.W. Pugh Fair Play Award: University of Montreal Carabins
 
SCHEDULE & RESULTS
 
Final Standings
1. CALGARY
2. Trinity Western
3. Alberta
4. Laval
5. Queen's
6. Thompson Rivers
T7. Dalhousie
T7. Montreal

Friday, March 12
 
Quarter-final #1: Laval 3, Montreal 0 (25-20, 25-20,, 25-18)
Quarter-final #2: Trinity Western 3  Queen's (25-19,15-23,25-19)
Quarter-final #3: Alberta 3  Thompson Rivers 1  (25-21,20-25,20-25,22-25)
Quarter-final #4: Calgary 3  Dalhousie 2  (21-25,24-26,25-20,25-19,16-14)
 
Saturday, March 13
 
Consolation #1: Queen's 3 Montreal 1 (27-29,22-25,25-16,24-26)
Consolation #2: Thompson Rivers 3  Dalhousie 0 (25-18,25-15,25-16)
Semi-final #1: Trinity Western 3  Laval 2   (25-22,20-25,25-23,23-25,18-20)
Semi-final #2: Calgary 3 Alberta 2 (25-23,19-25,23-25,25-23,15-13)
 
Sunday, March 14
 
5th/6th place: Queen's 3  Thompson Rivers 2 (25-23,15-25,21-25,25-18,15-13)
Bronze medal  Alberta 3  Laval 0 (17-25,21-25,28-30)
Championship final  Calgary 3  Trinity Western 1  (25-22,25-21,23-25,27-25)

-UC-