KINGSTON, Ont. – The University of Calgary Dinos are in familiar territory as they prepare for the 2012 CIS men's volleyball championship this weekend.

Heading in as the No. 6 seed – the same place from which they won it all in 2010, the Dinos will face No. 3 Laval in their quarterfinal Friday, March 2 at 11 a.m. MT, 1 p.m. local/ET.

Championship website: http://english.cis-sic.ca/championships/mvball/index

The eight-team CIS championship, hosted for the first time by Queen's University, concludes on Sunday with the gold-medal final set for 2 p.m. MT.

All games will be broadcast live on SSNCanada.ca.

Also competing for CIS supremacy in Kingston will be top seed and defending champion Trinity Western, second-seeded Manitoba, No. 4 Alberta Golden Bears (Canada West bronze medallists), No. 5 Queen's Gaels (OUA champions and hosts), No. 7 Western Mustangs (OUA finalists) and No. 8 Dalhousie Tigers (AUS champions).

The West domination of CIS men's volleyball is well-documented.

Since Laval claimed its third national title in five seasons back in 1994, teams currently competing in the Canada West conference (including schools from the now defunct Great Plains conference) have won 17 consecutive banners. In fact, since Sherbrooke captured its lone title in 1975, the coveted trophy has been hoisted by Western teams 33 times in 36 years.

Nine of the last 10 CIS finals have been contested between Canada West schools, with the exception being a straight-set Alberta win over Laval in 2009. Over the same period, the CWUAA has swept the national podium nine times – including last season, when the Dinos defeated Laval for bronze.

The Laval-Calgary match-up should offer plenty of fireworks as the two teams have developed an intense rivalry over the years and feature some of the best players in the country, including Rouge et Or left side Karl De Granpré, a three-time all-Canadian, and Dinos middle Graham Vigrass, a former CIS player of the year and CIS championship MVP. Vigrass was named a second team All-Canadian this season.

A year ago, Calgary edged Laval 18-16 in the fifth and decisive set of the CIS bronze-medal game. The Rouge et Or partially avenged that loss earlier this season, on Jan. 7, with a straight-set head-to-head win at the University of Saskatchewan's tournament.

The reigning seven-time RSEQ champions are looking to capture the fourth Tantramar Trophy in school history, their first since 1994. The Dinos are four-time CIS champs, most recently in 2010.

“We're really happy with our season so far. It's kind of similar to last year, but we made sure we faced even stiffer competition throughout the season,” says Laval head coach Pascal Clément. “We hosted Manitoba for three games and even though they didn't qualify for the national championship last year, we knew they'd be one of the top teams in the country this season. We also faced the national development team twice, and then the Dinos in Saskatoon. We hope this extra attention to details in our preparation will pay off this weekend.

“Like many teams at the CIS championship, we have very high expectations. It's fantastic to kick off the tournament against a team like Calgary. They are always a tough opponent and have a key player in Vigrass. It's great to face such great opposition right from the get go.”

Calgary's Rod Durrant also praised his first-round opponents.

“Laval is a very good team. They have by far one of the best left side players in the country, and he's going to be important in that game. He's going to get volume and points, and we'll have to slow him down as best as we can to be successful.

“We need to play the way we know this team can play, and learn from some of the adversity we've gone through this year. We have an opportunity, but we're going to do the little things well and play at our highest level of competition. We've earned the right to be at the national championship, and our expectation is to go out there and play our best this weekend.”

No. 6 Calgary Dinos

Head Coach: Rod Durrant (6th season)
Regular season record: 11-9
Regular season standing: 4th Canada West
Playoff record: 2-3
Playoff finish: Canada West 4th place
Overall record vs. CIS teams: 19-18
Final Top 10 ranking (Feb. 14): No. 6
Best Top 10 ranking: No. 4 (4 weeks: polls 1, 2, 4, 5)
Number of weeks in Top 10 (14 polls): 14
Conference award winners: None
Conference 1st team all-stars: Graham Vigrass (middle)
Conference 2nd team all-stars: None
CIS championship best result: 4-time champions (2010, 1993, 1989, 1982)
CIS championship last appearance: 2011 (bronze)
CIS championship sequence: 3rd consecutive appearance (17th in 26 years)

No. 3 Laval Rouge et Or

Head Coach: Pascal Clément (20th season)
Regular season record: 17-0
Regular season standing: 1st RSEQ
Playoff record: 2-0
Playoff finish: RSEQ champions
Overall record vs. CIS teams: 25-3
Final Top 10 ranking (Feb. 14): No. 3
Best Top 10 ranking: No. 3 (last 4 polls)
Number of weeks in Top 10 (14 polls): 14
Conference award winners: Karl De Granpré (MVP), Tommy Bélisle (rookie), Pierre-Alexis Lapointe (libero), Justin Boudreault (volleyball, academics & community service), Pascal Clément (coach)
Conference 1st team all-stars: Karl De Granpré (left side), Tommy Bélisle (right side), Justin Boudreault (setter), Jérémie Lortie (middle)
Conference 2nd team all-stars: No second team in RSEQ
CIS championship best result: 3-time champions (1994, 1992, 1990)
CIS championship last appearance: 2011 (4th place)
CIS championship sequence: 15th consecutive appearance (29th in 31 years – Missed 1997, 1993)

CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE

NOTE: Live webcast of all games on SSN Canada – in partnership with QTV.

Friday, March 2
11:00 Quarter-final #1: No. 3 Laval vs. No. 6 Calgary
13:00 Quarter-final #2: No. 2 Manitoba vs. No. 7 Western
16:00 Quarter-final #3: No. 4 Alberta vs. No. 5 Queen's
18:00 Quarter-final #4: No. 1 Trinity Western vs. No. 8 Dalhousie

Saturday, March 3
11:00 Consolation #1: Loser QF #1 vs. Loser QF #2
13:00 Consolation #2: Loser QF #3 vs. Loser QF #4
16:00 Semifinal #1: Winner QF #1 vs. Winner QF #2
18:00 Semifinal #2: Winner QF #3 vs. Winner QF #4

Sunday, March 4
9:00 5th place
11:00 Bronze medal
14:00 Championship final

-UC-