CALGARY – The marquee match-up on the national men's volleyball calendar this week has to be in the Jack Simpson Gym as the No. 3 Calgary Dinos host the No. 4 Manitoba Bisons to wrap up the Canada West schedule.
Both teams have had impressive seasons and have their eyes set on a trip to the national championship in Hamilton, Ont. in a few weeks' time. First, however, they'll jockey for playoff positioning, already guaranteed to finish 2-3 in the final conference standings. Both will host best-of-three quarterfinals next weekend, and it's more than a possibility that they will face each other two weeks from now in a conference semi-final with a trip to Hamilton on the line.
Before Saturday's match, the Dinos will recognize four graduating seniors for their contributions to the men's volleyball program:
Connor Frehlich,
Ivan Kartev,
Jackson Maris, and
Brendan Visser.
DETAILS- Dates: Friday, Feb. 19 and Saturday, Feb. 20
- Start times: 7:30 p.m. Friday, 5:30 p.m. Saturday
- Venue: Jack Simpson Gymnasium
HEADLINES- No. 3 vs. No 4 in the nation will decide second and third place in the final Canada West standings
- A single win by Manitoba will give the Bisons the second seed in the playoffs, while a Calgary sweep puts the Dinos in second
- Both teams host quarterfinals next weekend and, if both win, they'll face each other again March 4 in a single-match semi-final, with a trip to the CIS championship on the line
- Manitoba enters on a four-match win streak, while the Dinos dropped a pair at Alberta last weekend
- The second-place team will host the seventh seed, while the third-place team will host the sixth-place squad in next weekend's first-round playoffs. The final three playoff spots are still up for grabs, with Trinity Western, Saskatchewan, UBC, and Mount Royal all battling for postseason entry
- Calgary is 8-6 in its last 14 conference meetings with the Bisons and 11-7 overall, dating back to 2008.
No. 3 CALGARY DINOS (17-5)- Calgary has won the most regular season games in program history at 17 and will look to improve on that mark this weekend
- Though they lost both matches at Alberta last weekend, the Dinos took two sets off the Golden Bears – just the second team to do so on the season. Alberta has lost just seven sets in 22 matches
- Calgary had won eight straight heading into the Alberta weekend and will look to enter the playoffs on a winning note
- Curtis Stockton continues to be the Dinos' kill leader, averaging nearly four per set with 337 on the season. Libero Derek Meeuwisse is sixth in the conference with 182 digs on the year, while Keith West is a menace at the service line with 27 aces on the campaign
No. 4 MANITOBA BISONS (18-4)- After dropping one match at Thompson Rivers Jan. 30, the Bisons have won four in a row as they make the trip west to Calgary
- Five Bisons have more than 100 kills on the season, led by senior Devren Dear's 331 (fourth in Canada West). Adam DeJonckheere has 273, followed by Ken Rooney (159), Kevin Falconer (151), and Josh Crelin (119)
- DeJonckheere boasts an impressive .322 hitting percentage on the season
- Manitoba is the second-best offensive team in the conference in kills, hitting percentage, and assists, along with points per set
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