Mar 5 Complete – Champions!

Men’s Volleyball (CIS Championship)
Sunday, March 05, 2006
TWU Spartans (3) vs. the University of Alberta Golden Bears (0)
(25-21, 25-8, 25-16)

Complete – Champions!
TWU men’s volleyball completes medal set with CIS championship

HAMILTON, Ontario – The Trinity Western University men’s volleyball team now has a complete set of CIS Championship medals. The Spartans have won medal’s in each of their three championship appearances TWU won bronze in 2004, silver in 2005 and this year they were golden.

What was supposed to be a duel at the top between the nation’s two best university men’s volleyball teams turned out to be a one-sided domination.

The second-seeded Trinity Western University Spartans from Langley, B.C. captured their first ever Tantramar Trophy as Canadian Interuniversity Sport champions with a stunning, straight-set win over the No. 1-ranked and defending champion University of Alberta Golden Bears on Sunday afternoon at McMaster University in Hamilton.

The Spartans never trailed in the gold-medal match on their way to a 25-21, 25-8, 25-16 victory. TWU is in its seventh season of CIS competition the Spartans have an overall record of 125-116. Tonight’s victory was the 250 for TWU head coach Ron Pike (250-174) In 13 seasons with the Spartans.

The four-time CIS champion Golden Bears, playing in their fifth consecutive national final, hoped to capture back-to-back banners for the first time in team history. Alberta came into today’s final with a 34-1 overall mark on the year, having lost only to UBC and former U of A coach Richard Schick back on November 4.

Championship web site: www.cisport.ca/e/championships/m_volleyball/2006

The No. 2 Spartans had been waiting all year for another shot at the mighty Golden Bears, which had barely edged them in the 2005 national final prevailing 15-13 in the fifth and final set.

But if head-to-head results from this season were going to be an indication of the outcome of today’s match-up, things didn’t look promising for TWU. Alberta had won all five regular-season and playoff meetings, four of them in straight sets, including the Canada West final two weeks ago.

“To win this way is a complete shock,” said Trinity Western head coach Ron Pike. “I mean, you look at Alberta’s line-up, and player-by-player you’re talking about one of the most talented teams ever assembled on the other side of the net.”

“We said to our guys last night, if you start looking at any statistical categories, forget it, we’re not going to win,” continued Pike, who is in his 13th season as Spartans bench boss. “What we have on our side are the intangibles, particularly our intensity. I think we showed that tonight by the way we roared out of the gates.”

One of the differences in the match was TWU’s domination at the service line. The Spartans had 10 aces, including five by Chris Meehan and three by Steve Rogalsky, to none for the Bears.

“That’s our game, serve and block. It’s been our style all year.” added Pike.

Playing his final game in a Spartans uniform, Meehan, a fifth-year middle and right side from Clearwater, B.C. made sure he was going out in style picking up player-of-the-match and tournament MVP honours. He had been named a first-team all-Canadian for the second time in his career earlier this week.

Meehan scored 13 points on the afternoon including an amazing 7-of-8 on kill attempts. He also chipped in defensively with two digs, one solo block and one assisted block.

Rogalsky, a third-year right side from Maple Ridge, B.C. was also a major factor in the gold-medal win leading all players in the match with 15 points, including a team-high 11 kills.

Trinity Western all-Canadian setter Josh Howatson of Victoria and teammate Jeff Stel, a fourth-year outside hitter from Langley, were named to the all-tournament team. Rounding out the championship all-star selection were Alberta teammates Dallas Soonias of Red Deer, Alta. and first-team all-Canadian Brock Davidiuk of Edmonton, Manitoba’s Toon Van Lankvelt of Rivers, Man., and Dalhousie’s Jeff Weiler of Scarborough, Ont., the three-time CIS libero of the year.

Soonias, a fourth-year, 6-foot-8 right side was named player of the match for the Bears after tallying a team-high 11 kills.

The Spartans jumped to a 4-0 lead in the opening set but Alberta quickly recovered to tied it at 6 all. TWU responded with the next three points and held a three-point advantage until 14-11 when sophomore Alexandre Gaumont-Casias of Marieville, Que. brought the Bears back to within one with a pair of monstrous kills.

Trinity Western replied once again to take a 16-13 lead into the second technical timeout, and advantage they wouldn’t relinquished en route to a 25-21 set win.

From that point on, the Spartans looked like they were in a league of their own.

After taking an early 5-2 lead in the second frame, TWU scored an unimaginable eight unanswered points on Meehan’s serve to open up a commanding 11-point gap at 13-2. Alberta would never recover, and found itself trailing two sets to none following a punishing 25-8 affair.

Despite the urgency of the situation, there was still hope for the Bears, which had come back to win the only two matches in which they had trailed 2-0 this season, against UCLA of the NCAA and Winnipeg.

But on this day, it wasn’t meant to be.

Despite its best start of the afternoon, Alberta still found itself trailing 12-11 at the mid-way mark of the third game. It was as close as the defending champions would get. Five straight points on Rogalsky’s serve put the Spartans up by eight at 20-12, moments before Stel sealed the historical victory with a powerful kill right down the middle.

McMaster University will host the CIS men’s volleyball championship for a second straight year in 2007.

GOLD-MEDAL GAME QUICKIE STAT LEADERS

Trinity Western
Kills: Steve Rogalsky (11), Seth Schalk (8)
Blocks: Chris Meehan (1 solo, 1 assisted)
Digs: Jeff Lindemulder (11)
Assists: Joshua Howatson (31)

Player of the match: Chris Meehan

Alberta
Kills: Dallas Soonias (11), Alexandre Gaumont-Casias (10)
Blocks: Alexandre Gaumont-Casias (2 solo, 1 assisted)
Digs: Justin Wong (8)
Assists: Brock Davidiuk (25)

Player of the match: Chris Meehan

CHAMPIONSHIP AWARDS

Tournament MVP: Chris Meehan, Trinity Western

R.W. Pugh Fair Play Award: Trinity Western Spartans (team)

Tournament All-Stars:

Josh Howatson, Trinity Western
Jeff Stel, Trinity Western
Dallas Soonias, Alberta
Brock Davidiuk, Alberta
Toon Van Lankvelt, Manitoba
Jeff Weiler, Dalhousie

SEEDING, SCHEDULE & RESULTS (all times LOCAL / EST)

1.  Alberta Golden Bears (Canada West champions / 19-1 regular season, 2-0 playoffs)
2. Trinity Western Spartans (CW finalists / 16-4 regular season, 3-1 playoffs)
3. Manitoba Bisons (CW bronze medalists / 13-7 regular season, 3-1 playoffs)
4. Saskatchewan Huskies (CW semi-finalists / 15-5 regular season, 0-2 playoffs)
5. Dalhousie Tigers (AUS champions / 19-1 regular season, 1-0 playoffs)
6. Laval Rouge et Or (QSSF champions / 15-5 regular season, 2-1 playoffs)
7. Queen's Golden Gaels (OUA champions / 16-4 regular season, 3-0 playoffs)
8.  McMaster Marauders (OUA semi-finalists / 15-5 regular season, 1-1 playoffs)

Friday, March 3

Quarter-final #1: Manitoba 3, Laval 0 (25-9, 25-23, 28-26)
Quarter-final #2: Trinity Western 3, Queen’s 0 (25-17, 25-12, 25-23)
Quarter-final #3: Dalhousie 3, Saskatchewan 0 (25-21, 25-19, 25-23)
Quarter-final #4: Alberta 3, McMaster 1 (23-25, 25-16, 25-23, 25-16)

Saturday, March 4

Consolation #1: Queen’s 3, Laval 2 (25-22, 25-19, 22-25, 21-25, 15-11
Consolation #2: McMaster 3, Saskatchewan 0 (25-16, 25-23, 25-23)
Semi-final #1: Trinity Western 3, Manitoba 2 (25-20, 24-26, 21-25, 25-23, 15-11)
Semi-final #2: Alberta 3, Dalhousie 1 (24-26, 25-11,25-22,25-16)

Sunday, March 5

5th place: Queen’s 3, McMaster 0 (25-21, 25-18, 25-19)
Bronze medal: Manitoba 3, Dalhousie 1 (25-22, 26-24, 30-32, 25-21)
16:00 Championship final: Trinity Western 3, Alberta 0 (25-21, 25-8, 25-16)

-Contributions from CIS

-TW-

   Volleyball Box Score
                            The Automated ScoreBook
    #2 TW Spartans vs #1 Alberta Golden Bears (Mar 5, 2006 at Hamilton, ON)
    TW Spartans            |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 2  Seth Schalk.........  3|  8   1  15  .467|  1|  0   2|  0|  5| 0  1  0|  0
 3  Joshua Howatson.....  3|  4   1   7  .429| 31|  2   2|  0|  3| 0  0  0|  0
 4  Andrew Hawkes.......  2|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 5  Jeffrey Stel........  3|  6   2  13  .308|  0|  0   0|  1|  6| 0  1  0|  0
 7  Chris Meehan........  3|  7   1   9  .667|  0|  5   2|  0|  2| 1  1  5|  0
 8  Jeff Lindemulder....  3|  0   0   0  .000|  2|  0   0|  0| 11| 0  0  0|  0
 9  Steve Rogalsky......  3| 11   2  19  .474|  1|  3   3|  0|  4| 0  2  1|  0
 10 Justin Pankratz.....  3|  4   0   8  .500|  1|  0   0|  0|  3| 0  2  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  5| 40   7  71  .465| 36| 10   9|  1| 34| 1  7  6|  0

 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 4.5
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  12  5  29  .241   GAME SCORES           1  2  3  4  5  TEAM RECORDS
   2  11  0  17  .647   TW Spartans......... 25 25 25  0  0
   3  17  2  25  .600   Alberta Golden Bears 21  8 16  0  0
   4   0  0   0  .000
   5   0  0   0  .000

    Alberta Golden Bears   |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1  Nicholas Cundy......  3|  4   5  13 -.077|  1|  0   3|  2|  4| 0  0  0|  0
 2  Justin Wong.........  3|  0   0   1  .000|  0|  0   0|  1|  8| 0  0  0|  0
 3  Adam Kaminski.......  3|  2   1   4  .250|  0|  0   1|  0|  1| 0  0  2|  0
 5  Brock Davidiuk......  3|  1   0   3  .333| 25|  0   0|  0|  5| 0  0  1|  0
 7  Dallas Soonias......  3| 11   5  24  .250|  1|  0   0|  0|  3| 0  1  1|  0
 8  Brock Pehar.........  1|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 9  Anthony Szkultecki..  2|  0   1   5 -.200|  0|  0   0|  1|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 10 Joel Schmuland......  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 11 Thomas Jarmoc.......  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  1|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 13 Derek Proudfoot.....  2|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 14 Leo Carroll.........  3|  1   1   4  .000|  0|  0   1|  0|  0| 0  2  3|  0
 17 Alex Gaumont Casias.  3| 10   3  22  .318|  0|  0   2|  6|  3| 2  1  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  5| 29  16  76  .171| 28|  0   7| 11| 24| 2  4  7|  0

 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 4.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  14  7  33  .212   Site: Hamilton, ON (Burridge Gym)
   2   4  7  21 -.143   Date: Mar 5, 2006    Attend: 2400   Time:
   3  11  2  22  .409   Referees:
   4   0  0   0  .000
   5   0  0   0  .000

Last Updated: 2009-02-16
Author: Scott Stewart
Email: ssstew@twu.ca