HAMILTON – With a 3-1 victory over the Winnipeg Wesmen in Friday's Bronze medal game the UBC Thunderbirds earned the final Canada West berth in this week's U SPORTS national championship in Hamilton Ontario. The T-Birds enter the tournament as the third seed and are set to face the AUS champion University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds, ranked sixth to open quarter-final play Friday at McMaster University's Burridge Gymnasium.
Two other Canada West teams join the T-Birds in Hamilton for the championship which officially gets underway with the national awards breakfast on Thursday March 15. The Canada West Champion and two time defending national champion Trinity Western Spartans have earned the first seed while just behind them are the Alberta Golden Bears entering as the second seed.
The No. 3 Thunderbirds will open the tournament against the No. 6 University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds in quarter-final action on Friday March 16
th at 10:00 a.m PT, with the winner advancing to a semifinal on Saturday.
By the Numbers
46 – The Thunderbirds lead Canada West in service aces through five playoff matches with fourth-year setter
Byron Keturakis ranked number one in the conference with 17 and fifth-year left side
Irvan Brar ranked number three with nine in that span.
259 – The Thunderbirds lead the Conference in total kills thru five post season games with first-year middle
Fynn McCarthy setting the tone with a team leading 63 kills which ranked him fourth in Canada West.
Players to Watch
Keith West – (#3, Left side) – The fifth-year veteran earned a game high 18 kills to go along with eight digs in last week's 3-1 bronze medal winning victory over Winnipeg. West is also ranked fourth in the Canada West standings with a hitting percentage of .344 through four playoff matches.
Tyson Smith – (#16, Libero) – The second-year libero has a team high 39 digs through five playoff matches and is averaging 1.95 digs per set which ranked him eighth overall in the conference. Smith has also chipped in with 11 assists in the post season good for second spot on the team.
Coach's take
Thunderbirds second-year head coach
Kerry MacDonald feels his team is trending in the right direction as they gear up for championship action.
"I'm really liking where we're at right now," said MacDonald. "I mean I think it's easy to look back and see a team that's lost two of our last three matches and see the negatives in that but then recognizing that we lost two games (semifinal) to the No. 2 ranked team in the country (Alberta) going into a national championship. Those were two close matches and matches that I think our guys would like to have another crack at so we're happy with the level of volleyball that we're playing at the moment and our ability to show composure and really compete in the moment when we need to bring it as we did last week against Winnipeg."
MacDonald added that he's confident with the leadership on his squad going into the most important part of the season.
"We have a lot of veteran guys, we have a lot of fifth-years and even our fourth-years have played a lot of points for us as well." MacDonald continued. "We have a lot of maturity in the locker room and it's really nice to be able to lean back on that and be able to rely on the previous experience of this group down the stretch."
Finally, MacDonald sized up who the Birds will meet in their first game action, the University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds.
"They're a good team and I don't think they maybe get the credit they deserve just because of the conference that they play in but having already watched a little bit of video on them and knowing some of their players, they're a strong team," Kerry went on to say. "They had a few injuries this year that affected their record but they'll be a tough first round opponent, they'll be a challenge for us and we'll make sure we're ready."
No. 1 Trinity Western Spartans
- Playoff Finish: Canada West champions
- Regular season / playoff records: 22-2/ 5-0
- Last U SPORTS Championship: 2017
- Total U SPORTS Championships: 5
Team Leaders
- Kills per set: Eric Loeppky (4.05)
- Blocks per set: Riley Vander Meulen (1.18)
- Assists per set: Adam Schriemer (10.57)
- Digs per set: Carter Bergen (2.19)
The No. 1 ranked and Canada West champion Trinity Western Spartans enter the 2018 U SPORTS championship looking for their third straight national title.
The Spartans, who have five national championships, come in to the U SPORTS tournament as one of the favourites after another dominant season in which they finished on top of Canada West with a program best 22-win season. The Spartans' only two losses on the season bracketed a program best 15 match winning streak. The Canada West title was the program's fifth conference title in program history.
Competing in their ninth straight national championship tournament and 13
th in program history, the Spartans will be looking for their fifth U SPORTS title in eight years and what would be their seventh national final appearance in nine seasons. At the national championship, TWU has an impressive record of 28 wins and 8 losses in 12 appearances including 10 medals: five gold, three silver, and two bronze since 2004.
The Spartans are led by Canada West MVP and All-Canadian setter Adam Schriemer and Canada West first team all-star and 2017 U SPORTS Rookie of the Year Eric Loeppky.
No. 2 Alberta Golden Bears
- Playoff finish: Canada West finalists
- Regular season / playoff records: 19-5 / 4-1
- Last U SPORTS Championship: 2015
- Total U SPORTS Championships: 8
Team Leaders
- Kills per set: Taryq Sani (4.07)
- Blocks per set: George Hobern (1.08)
- Assists per set: Luke Brisbane (9.80)
- Digs per set: Taryq Sani (1.89)
Despite losing three graduating U SPORTS All-Canadians over the summer in Brett Walsh, Ryan Nickifor, and Taylor Arnett, the Golden Bears volleyball team never fell out of contention with one of their youngest rosters. Playing in arguably the toughest conference in Canada, Alberta finished third in Canada West with a 19-5 conference record and were routinely ranked inside the top five in the U SPORTS Top 10 rankings.
Led by sophomore outside hitter Taryq Sani, who led Canada West with 362 kills, and finished 11
th with 168 digs, the Bears set themselves up for another deep run at nationals following a series sweep of UBC in the semifinal. Alberta's trip to McMaster marks their 18
th consecutive season qualifying for the U SPORTS Championship, and 23
rd appearance in 25 seasons under head coach Terry Danyluk.
No. 3 UBC Thunderbirds
- Playoff finish: Canada West bronze medalists
- Regular season / playoff records: 20-4 / 3-2
- Last U SPORTS championship: 1983
- Total U SPORTS championships: 3
Team leaders
Following their best regular season record in decades, the UBC Thunderbirds have advanced to their second straight U SPORTS national championship in search of their first banner since 1983.
Finishing the regular season as the No.2-ranked team in the country, the T-Birds finished 20-4, just four points behind the top-ranked Trinity Western Spartans. The team dispatched the Manitoba Bisons with relative ease in the conference quarter-final by 3-1 and 3-0 scores to advance to the semifinals the following weekend. But the 'Birds ran into a hot Alberta Golden Bears team that swept UBC, the first time all season the T-Birds had lost back-to-back matches. The Thunderbirds advanced to the national tournament after capturing the Canada West bronze medal and the final conference berth at the national tournament with a 3-1 home win over Winnipeg.
UBC was led all season by a pair of Canada West first team all-stars in fifth-year outside hitter
Irvan Brar and fourth-year setter
Byron Keturakis who led Canada West with 65 service aces in the regular season.
The Thunderbirds bring a deep squad to Hamilton as evidenced by first-year outside hitter
Fynn McCarthy being named to the Canada West all-rookie team after finishing top ten in conference hitting percentage along with Brar.
No. 4 Montreal Carabins
- Playoff finish: RSEQ champions
- Regular season / playoff records: 12-2 / 2-0
- Last U SPORTS Championship: 1970
- Total U SPORTS championships: 1
Team leaders
- Kills per set: Godefroy Veyron-Trudel (3.88)
- Blocks per set: Mikael Dagenais (1.41)
- Assists per set: Gabriel Chancy (10.32)
- Digs per set: Olivier Riopel (2.62)
The Carabins had an extraordinary year, enabling them to end the Université Laval's
Rouge et Or's 12-year title streak.
During his first season at the helm, head coach Ghazi Guidara led his team to a 14-2 record. His work was recognized with RSEQ coach of the year honours. In total, three players from the Université de Montréal earned a spot on the all-star team (Mikael Dagenais, Gabriel Chancy and Godefroy Veyron-Trudel).
In addition to his excellent performances on the court, Captain Alyson Francillon earned the leadership and social commitment award for his community involvement.
No. 5 McMaster Marauders
- Playoff finish: OUA champions / Hosts
- Regular season / playoff records: 15-2 / 3-0
- Last U SPORTS championship: Never
Team Leaders
- Kills per set: Brandon Koppers (3.76)
- Blocks per set: Peter Khodkevych (0.93)
- Assists per set: David Doty (9.24)
- Digs per set: Jordan Pereira (2.23)
The McMaster Marauders will host the U SPORTS Men's Volleyball Championship for the second time in three seasons, after capturing their sixth straight OUA championship on home court.
After starting the year with another pre-season two-game sweep of the two-time defending NCAA champion Ohio State Buckeyes in the North America Challenge, McMaster went 15-2 through the regular season finishing first in the OUA west division, losing only to Ryerson in the season opener and Western in the second-last game of the campaign. The Marauders then swept Nipissing in the conference quarter-final and downed Windsor in the semis in four sets before making OUA history with a Forsyth Cup final sweep of the Queen's Gaels. That result secured the Marauders as the longest championship dynasty in the history of OUA men's volleyball, breaking the previous record of five consecutive titles held by the Toronto Varsity Blues (1995-99).
Outside hitter Andrew Richards became the fifth consecutive Marauder to be named as an OUA Player of the Year, winning the OUA West honour, while coach Dave Preston repeated as OUA West Coach of the Year (his fifth coach of the year award).
No. 6 UNB Varsity Reds
- Playoff finish: AUS champions
- Regular season / playoffs records: 4-11 / 2-1
- Last U SPORTS championship: None
Team leaders
- Kills per set: Connor McConnell (3.13)
- Blocks per set: Brad Stewart (1.14)
- Assists per set: Kent Doucette (6.76)
- Digs per set: Alex Egers (1.83)
The UNB Varsity Reds went into the 2017-18 looking to fill some big holes.
After winning a second consecutive Atlantic University Sport title in 2016-17, the Varsity Reds graduated three conference all-stars, including former AUS MVP Eivind Andersen.
UNB went 3-3 in their first six matches, including wins over the Dalhousie Tigers on back-to-back weekends in mid-November. A late December trip to Winnipeg saw the Varsity Reds upset the then U SPORTS No. 10 Manitoba Bisons in exhibition play. Unfortunately, injuries hobbled the Varsity Reds through the remainder of the regular season.
UNB went 1-8 to close the year, finishing with a 4-11 record, before capturing the AUS championship with a 3-1 win in Game 3 over Dalhousie.
No. 7 Queen's Gaels
- Playoff finish: OUA finalists
- Regular season / playoff records: 10-8 / 2-1
- Last U SPORTS championship: None
Team leaders
- Kills per set: Markus Trence (3.65)
- Blocks per set: Jack Peckham (0.81)
- Assists per set: Zane Grossinger (9.72)
- Digs per set: Markus Trence (2.06)
In her final season as head coach of the Queen's men's volleyball team, Brenda Willis led the Gaels once again back to the OUA Final Four and U SPORTS national championship.
After a 4-3 start to the year, Queen's managed just two wins in their next five games to sit at 6-8 with the OUA playoffs looming. In their final four games, the Gaels won out, with key sweeps over Toronto and the East division-leading Ryerson Rams in Willis' final home game in front of a raucous crowd of friends, fans and alumni.
The Gaels claimed the third spot in the East and travelled to London to challenge the second-seeded OUA West division Western Mustangs. Queen's pulled off the upset in four sets led by an impressive performance from rookie setter Zane Grossinger to advance to the Final Four. At the Final Four in Hamilton, the Gaels claimed an OUA silver medal and booked their ticket back to the U SPORTS national championship for the first time since the Gaels hosted the event in 2012.
No. 8 Windsor Lancers
- Playoff Finish: OUA bronze medalists
- Regular season / playoff records: 10-7 / 2-1
- Last U SPORTS Championship: Never
Team Leaders:
- Kills per set: Brad Gyemi (3.60)
- Blocks per set: John Moate (1.26)
- Assists per set: Nolan Langley (9.40)
- Digs per set: Matthew Pe Benito (1.87)
The Lancers are making their very first appearance in program history at the TELUS 2018 U SPORTS Men's Volleyball Championship. Windsor claimed the OUA bronze medal by defeating the Ryerson Rams to qualify for the tournament.
Following two challenging seasons, the Lancers bounced back in 2017-18, finishing with a 10-7 record to place third overall in the OUA west division. The Blue and Gold upset the York Lions in the conference quarter-finals to advance to the final four for the second time in four years, and only the fourth time in program history.
The OUA all-star trio of John Moate, Pierce Johnson and Brad Gyemi will boast a big offensive threat, having finished amongst the league leaders in multiple categories. An OUA first team all-star, Moate finished the year fourth in the nation in blocks per set, averaging 1.26. Johnson, a 2017 all-rookie team member, was also a first-team all-star finishing third in the OUA in total kills with 228, while Gyemi made his second straight appearance as a second-team all-star, finishing the year with 205 total kills, to place him fifth in the OUA.
CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE
Thursday, Mar. 15
- All-Canadian Awards Breakfast, 7:30 a.m. ET / 4:30 a.m. PT
Friday, Mar. 16 (Quarter-finals)
- UBC vs. UNB, 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT
- Alberta vs. Queen's, 3 p.m. ET / 12 p.m. PT
- Montreal vs. McMaster, 6 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. PT
- Trinity Western vs. Windsor, 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT
