BOX SCORE

KINGSTON, Ont. – The Calgary Dinos' dream of a national championship in men's volleyball came to an end Friday afternoon as they ran into Karl De Grandpre and the Université Laval Rouge et Or, dropping a four-set decision 3-1 (23-25, 25-19, 25-22, 25-15) to the Quebec champions on Day 1 of the CIS men's volleyball championship hosted by Queen's University.

De Grandpre, the RSEQ player of the year, recorded 22 kills from his left side position as the Rouge et Or eliminated the Dinos from the hunt and sent Calgary to the consolation side of the bracket. The Dinos return to action Saturday morning at 11 a.m. MT when they face the Western Mustangs, who lost to Manitoba in the other early quarterfinal. Calgary can finish no better than fifth at the 2012 CIS championship.

After starting well early and taking the first set 25-23 despite seven service errors in the frame, the Dinos' passing broke down and De Grandpre and his Laval teammates took over the momentum in the match.

“We passed, we competed, and we executed in the first set, and we were successful,” said Dinos head coach Rod Durrant. “In the second, they started to serve more aggressively and we weren't able to receive well in the second set. The third was up for grabs for a while, and they had a couple of late runs, and in the fourth we were just out of gas. They had so much confidence, everything they hit was hard and in a seam, and they were able to score. I'm proud of the way our guys battled and that we never gave up, but at the end of the day we just fell a little short today.”

“It's tough,” said fifth-year Dinos star Graham Vigrass. “I feel like the two teams are very equal, and today we just didn't perform like we can. That's what's disappointing to me – not really winning or losing, but not performing like we can in a match like that.”

Vigrass was the Dinos' leader on the day with 17 kills, while fourth-year left side Chris Hoag had an outstanding outing with 15 kills while Allen Meek added 11. Both teams put on an impressive display of volleyball, with each side hitting better than 35 per cent on the day.

Despite making seven serving errors in the first set, the Dinos played in-system and passed the ball extremely well while recording three blocks and holding De Grandpre to six kills and three errors. Calgary hit an impressive 40.6 per cent in the first frame while holding the Rouge et Or to just 16.1, recording the 25-23 win and handing undefeated Laval just its sixth set loss of the season.

From there, however, Laval's serving put pressure on the Calgary passing game and began having success running the middle, with Jeremie Lortie recording four kills in the second frame as Laval evened the affair with a 25-19 win. De Grandpre went off from there, slamming nine kills in the third set as Laval overcame a late Calgary run with a 25-22 win. The fourth set was all Laval as the Dinos were continually unable to respond to the confident Rouge et Or attack while Laval blocked the Dinos six times during the final set as they took an easy 25-15 win.

Tommy Belisle added 12 kills for Laval, while Lortie finished with 11 – all coming in the final three sets. Calgary setter Jay Blankenau led all players with 15 digs. Vigrass and Meek led the Calgary attack at the net, with Vigrass in on six blocks while Meek factored in five of the Dinos' nine total stuffs.

The Dinos will look to extend their season one more day when they take on the OUA runners-up, the Western Mustangs, in the consolation semi-final Saturday at 1 p.m. local, 11 a.m. MT.

NOTES: The result marks the first time the Dinos have lost a CIS quarterfinal since 2002, also to Laval, following three consecutive victories … the Dinos have now faced the Rouge et Or 10 times at the CIS championship, more than any other opponent. Calgary has a 6-4 record in those games … the Dinos defeated Laval in five sets to win the bronze medal in 2011 … the Dinos and Mustangs last faced each other at the national tournament in 2000, with Calgary winning 3-2 in the consolation final … Calgary and Western also met in 1996, with the Mustangs winning 3-0 in Calgary … Calgary will host the 2014 CIS men's volleyball championship in the Jack Simpson Gym.

-UC-