CALGARY - The Husky Dino Cup enters its 25th year of operation this fall with one major change: for the first time in decades, there will be no American teams present.

Thanks to a new rule in the NCAA that limits non-conference travel for Division I volleyball teams, tournaments like the Husky Dino Cup have been forced to look elsewhere for participating teams – and so the Dinos welcome the Alberta Golden Bears, the Regina Cougars, and the newcomers – the Queen's University Gaels. The tournament opens Thursday night and runs through Saturday at the Jack Simpson Gym.

On the women's side, the Dinos and Alberta Pandas will play a two-match non-conference series on Thursday and Saturday nights.

Queen's hosts the CIS men's volleyball championship next March in Kingston, Ont., and the Gaels played host to a warm-up tournament last weekend where a depleted Dinos squad managed to finish third after dropping a tight five-set semi-final to the UBC Thunderbirds. The defending Canada West champion Dinos, who finished last season 16-2 and went into the national tournament seeded No. 1, return virtually their entire squad from a year ago and are ranked No. 4 in the first Top 10 of the season. However, sixth-year head coach Rod Durrant will be putting a patchwork line-up on the floor this weekend with a variety of injuries.

Most notably absent from the floor for Calgary will be CIS player of the year Graham Vigrass, who was the Canada West nominee for the BLG Award last year and represented Canada at the Summer Universiade in Shenzhen, China along with setter Jay Blankenau. Vigrass continues to nurse an injury and will hopefully return to the Calgary line-up once conference play begins.

This edition of the Husky Dino Cup will see the home debut of new women's volleyball head coach Natalie Schwartz. Schwartz, one of the most decorated players in program history during her career from 2001-06, joins fellow alumna Tracy Keats on the sidelines as the Dinos look to re-establish the winning ways that saw them attend nine consecutive national championship tournaments from 2001-09.

Schwartz brought in reigning ACAC player of the year Andrea Price from the Mount Royal Cougars to enhance the Dinos' offence, while fifth-year veterans Sarah Lacny and Melanie Miazga return for a final year in search of a return trip to nationals. They face their nemeses, the Alberta Pandas, in two non-conference matches this year. Head coach Laurie Eisler returns for a 20th season with the Pandas and has her team ranked No. 2 in the first Top 10 of the year with a deep, talent-laden line-up. The Dinos, meanwhile, open 2011-12 at No. 9 in the national Top 10 poll.

The rest of the men's tournament features the defending Husky Dino Cup champion Alberta Golden Bears, who are ranked No. 2 in the inaugural Top 10 of the season.

Like the Dinos, Alberta lost to eventual champion (and host) Trinity Western in the CIS tournament last March in B.C., and longtime head coach Terry Danyluk always has a talented, veteran lineup that will challenge for a national title once again. They meet Calgary in the feature match Thursday night.

Queen's is a powerhouse in Ontario but looks to enhance its non-conference schedule with the traditional powers in Canada West as the host of this year's national championship, while Regina continues to make strides towards being a playoff team in the ultra-competitive Canada West.

The Canada West schedule gets underway for the Dinos next weekend as they pay a visit to Kamloops to take on the Thompson Rivers WolfPack. The home openers are set for one week later, Nov. 4-5, when Calgary hosts the Manitoba Bisons. First serve goes at 6 p.m. for the women and 8 p.m. for the men.

2011 HUSKY DINO CUP – SCHEDULE
All matches in Jack Simpson Gym

Thursday, Oct. 20
6 p.m. – Calgary vs. Alberta (w)
8 p.m. – Calgary vs. Alberta (m)

Friday, Oct. 21
11 a.m. – Alberta vs. Queen's (m)
1 p.m. – Calgary vs. Regina (m)
5:30 p.m. – Regina vs. Alberta (m)
7 p.m. – Calgary vs. Queen's (m)

Saturday, Oct. 22
11 a.m. – Queen's vs. Regina (m)
3 p.m. – Bronze Medal Match (m)
5 p.m. – Dinos vs. Alberta (w)
7 p.m. -  Gold Medal Match (m)

-UC-