CALGARY – Using a tone-setting double block on Graham Vigrass to start the match, the Alberta Golden Bears never looked back, stifling the Calgary Dinos in three sets (25-20, 25-19, 28-26) to take the no.1 seed in Canada West and the right to host the Final Four.
BOX SCORE
Alberta dominated at the net, slamming home a remarkable 35% of their kills over three sets, including nearly half of their attempts in the third set. Alberta had 17 blocks as well over the match, with Justin Merta leading the way with five of them. Calgary was inconsistent in the attacking department, getting only nine kills in the second set en route to a negative hitting percentage.
The Golden Bears will now return to Edmonton with a 17-1 record, where they will take a week's rest before hosting the Canada West Final Four, where at least three CIS National Championship bids will be up for grabs.
Calgary (16-2), on the other hand, will need to shake off the disappointment of two straight losses to their provincial rival, which not only ended the possibility of a perfect season, but denied them the opportunity to have a bye as the no.1 seed. The Dinos will now face the seventh place UBC Thunderbirds in the opening round of the conference postseason, who were swept by the Thompson Rivers WolfPack in a battle for sixth place in Canada West.
The first two sets were competitive up until the 20 point mark, where each time Alberta pulled away. A Matthew Tokarik service ace in the first set sparked a late run to victory, while the Bears didn't allow a terrific late Levi Nutma line-shot any momentum for Calgary in the second set. Nutma pulled the Dinos within one at 19-18, but the Bears would use a 6-1 run to finish the set off.
The third set was the most entertaining, as both teams went point for point well into the twenties. Graham Vigrass would give his squad two set-point opportunities to help extend the match, with one at 25-24 where he helped with a one-handed block and a subsequent kill, and the other at 26-25 where he blasted home a middle set. With Alberta fending off each of those Calgary chances, Vigrass would try again at 26-26 to give his squad the advantage, but missed by the closest of margins.
Cutting a shot around the block towards an open left side of the court, Vigrass just found the outside of the court boundary, giving Alberta the point and the ball. Chris Hoag would get a chance to keep the game going, but drilled an outside shot right into the waiting arms of a double block, which sealed the game for Alberta.
Blake Giles had a terrific game for Calgary in his final regular-season game as the Dinos' libero, making the majority of his eight digs in spectacular fashion, while Vigrass led in the kills department with 13.
Jay Olmstead led the Bears with 12 kills, while Spencer Leiske had 11. Setter Tanner Nault had 37 assists and several timely dumps, which kept Calgary scrambling throughout the match.
Calgary will welcome UBC to the Jack Simpson Gymnasium for a best-of-three series beginning on Thursday, February 17th. Game-times will be 7 p.m. MDT on Thursday, followed by 4 p.m. on Friday, and then 4 p.m. again on Saturday, should the third match be necessary.
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