LANGLEY, B.C. – Led by a solid effort by newly-minted CIS player of the year Graham Vigrass, the top-seeded University of Calgary Dinos took the first step toward defending their national title – but the next one is shaping up to be a whole lot tougher.

No. 1 Calgary looked shaky at times but still managed to come out with a 3-0 win over eighth-seeded Sherbrooke (25-12, 26-24, 25-18) in the national quarterfinal Friday night at the Langley Events Centre, setting up a showdown with the hometown Trinity Western Spartans in the late semi-final Saturday night (9 p.m. MT, www.ssncanada.ca).

BOX SCORE

It will be a rematch of the 2010 national championship game, which the Dinos won in four sets over the Spartans in Kamloops, B.C. to win their first national championship since 2003.

Vigrass scored kills on his first seven attempts of the night before the overmatched Quebec conference runners-up were finally able to stop him late in the second set as the Dinos booked their ticket to Saturday night and guaranteed themselves a shot at a medal. The fourth-year middle, who earned the top individual prize in CIS men's volleyball Wednesday night at the All-Canadian banquet, finished the night with 13 kills on 22 attempts with just one error to hit at a solid .545 clip while chipping in with seven block assists.

Despite a lull in the second set, where the Dinos didn't lead until the 23-22 mark, head coach Rod Durrant was reasonably pleased with his team's opener at the national tournament.

“We're very pleased with the result, as three straight was what we wanted to get out of it,” said the Canada West coach of the year. “There are some areas we need to improve on and we know that, but at the end of the day we're happy to move on to the semi-final.

“Our first ball contact did break down at times, but we'll work on that for tomorrow,” he continued. “I think we earned the right to play the eighth-ranked team. They're a good team and they played some scrappy defence, but we got what we needed and now we move forward.”

After a 25-12 whitewash in the opening set for Calgary, Sherbrooke found another gear and led for the vast majority of the second set. The Dinos were able to keep it within three points at all times, however, and eventually took the lead at 23-22. A three-man block by Vigrass, Allen Meek, and Curtis James wrapped up the second set in favour of the higher seed.

The third started with a pair of 5-0 runs, one for each side. It remained close until the Vert & Or took a 10-9 lead, when the Dinos rattled off a 7-0 run that was sparked by a Sherbrooke service error. In the driver's seat from that point on, Calgary cruised to the straight-sets win.

Meek was the other Dino in double-digit kills with 11 on the night, while Sherbrooke native Chris Hoag had an efficient night, going 6-for-10 from the left side against many players he grew up playing with. James and David Egan added eight kills apiece. As a team, the Dinos hit .432 on the night, including an impressive .636 in the opening set.

Maxime-Rock Claessens Rivest carried the mail for the Vert & Or, recording 12 of his team's 31 kills on the night while Pierre-Marc Lussier added seven. Sherbrooke put up a total of three stuff blocks against Calgary's 9.5 while the Dinos out-dug their adversaries by a 42-29 margin.

Calgary joins Laval, Brandon, and Trinity Western as semi-finalists at the 2011 CIS championship after the four quarterfinals on Day 1. The highlight of the day was undoubtedly the host Spartans' epic five-set win over the Alberta Golden Bears in the 4-vs-5 match-up immediately preceding the Dinos-Vert & Or tilt.

The Dinos and Spartans are very familiar with each other, meeting most recently in the Canada West semi-final last Friday night in Edmonton – a 3-2 Calgary win. However, the neutral confines of the UofA Main Gym have been replaced with the boisterous Langley Events Centre, and the Spartans will have the home fans squarely in their corner Saturday night as they attempt to avenge the 2010 national final.

“They're a very good team,” Durrant said, “and it'll be noisy in here tomorrow.”

The late semi-final is scheduled for a 9 p.m. MT first serve Saturday night, following the early match which pits the No. 2 Laval Rouge et Or against the No. 3 Brandon Bobcats. Both games will be webcast live at www.ssncanada.ca.

-UC-