Laval seeded No. 1 for first time in 10 years - No. 4 Spartans open with No. 5 Queens
Men's Volleyball (CIS Championship)
Sunday, March 7, 2010
2010 Championship Seeding
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Laval seeded No. 1 for first time in 10 years - No. 4 Spartans open with No. 5 Queens
OTTAWA (CIS) – A year after reaching the national final for the first time in seven seasons, the Laval Rouge et Or are heading into the CIS men’s volleyball championship as tournament favourites for the first time in a decade.
Championship website: http://english.cis-sic.ca/championships/mvball
The seedings were announced Sunday evening for the 2010 CIS tourney set to kick off Friday at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, B.C. The gold-medal final of the eight-team competition is scheduled for next Sunday at 6 p.m. Pacific Time.
SSN Canada will have live webcasts of all main-bracket duels, including the bronze-medal match.
Rounding out the seedings are the No. 2 and reigning two-time CIS champion Alberta Golden Bears (Canada West champions), No. 3 Dalhousie Tigers (AUS champions), No. 4 Trinity Western Spartans (Canada West finalists), No. 5 Queen’s Gaels (OUA champions), No. 6 Calgary Dinos (Canada West bronze medallists), No. 7 Thompson Rivers WolfPack (championship hosts), and No. 8 Montreal Carabins (QSSF finalists).
Top-ranked Laval takes the court against Quebec rival Montreal Friday at 1 p.m. Pacific Time in the tournament opener, while Alberta begins its title defence versus Canada West foe Thompson Rivers in the third quarter-final duel, at 6 p.m.
The other first-round match-ups pit Trinity Western against Queen’s at 3 p.m., and Dalhousie against Calgary at 8 p.m.
The QSSF champion Rouge et Or, who posted an impressive 27-2 overall mark against CIS opposition this season including a two-game sweep of Montreal in the best-of-three Quebec final, would rather forget the last time they were seeded No. 1 for the CIS tournament. Back in 2000, they were upset in the first round by Dalhousie in front of their home crowd in Quebec City, en route to finishing in a tie for seventh place.
Laval’s third and last CIS title did come as the No. 1 seed however, back in 1994. Since then, teams currently competing in the Canada West conference (including teams absorbed from the defunct Great Plains conference) have captured 14 straight banners.
The CIS all-Canadians and major award winners will be unveiled at a banquet on Wednesday evening.
Note: A complete championship preview will follow on Tuesday.
SEEDINGS
1. Laval Rouge et Or (QSSF champions: 18-0 regular season / 2-0 playoffs)
2. Alberta Golden Bears (CWUAA champions: 14-4 regular season / 2-0 playoffs)
3. Dalhousie Tigers (AUS champions: 16-2 regular season / 2-0 playoffs)
4. Trinity Western Spartans (CWUAA finalists: 11-7 regular season / 3-2 playoffs)
5. Queen’s Gaels (OUA champions: 16-4 regular season / 3-0 playoffs)
6. Calgary Dinos (CWUAA bronze medallists: 13-5 regular season / 3-1 playoffs)
7. Thompson Rivers WolfPack (Hosts: 10-8 regular season / 2-3 playoffs)
8. Montreal Carabins (QSSF finalists: 9-9 regular season / 2-2 playoffs)
CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE (all times LOCAL: Pacific Time)
Wednesday, March 10
18:00 All-Canadian Banquet (TRU Grand Hall)
Friday, March 12
13:00 Quarter-final #1: No. 1 Laval vs. No. 8 Montreal (SSN Canada)
15:00 Quarter-final #2: No. 4 Trinity Western vs. No. 5 Queen’s (SSN Canada)
18:00 Quarter-final #3: No. 2 Alberta vs. No. 7 Thompson Rivers (SSN Canada)
20:00 Quarter-final #4: No. 3 Dalhousie vs. No. 6 Calgary (SSN Canada)
Saturday, March 13
13:00 Consolation #1: Loser QF #1 vs. Loser QF #2
15:00 Consolation #2: Loser QF #3 vs. Loser QF #4
18:00 Semi-final #1: Winner QF #1 vs. Winner QF #2 (SSN Canada)
20:00 Semi-final #2: Winner QF #3 vs. Winner QF #4 (SSN Canada)
Sunday, March 14
13:00 5th place
15:00 Bronze medal (SSN Canada)
18:00 Championship final (SSN Canada)
About Canadian Interuniversity Sport
Canadian Interuniversity Sport is the national governing body of university sport in Canada. Fifty-two universities, 10,000 student-athletes and 550 coaches vie for 21 national championships in 12 different sports. CIS also provides high performance international opportunities for Canadian student-athletes at Winter and Summer Universiades, as well as numerous world university championships. For further information, visit www.cis-sic.ca.
-CIS-
For more information contact:
Michel Bélanger
Manager, Communications & Media Relations
Canadian Interuniversity Sport
Ph: (613) 562-5670 ext. 25
Cell: (613) 447-6334
belanger@universitysport.ca
www.cis-sic.ca
Larry Read
Sports Information Officer
Thompson Rivers University
Ph: (250) 377-6117
Cell: (250) 819-5255
lread@tru.ca
Last Updated: 2010-03-07
Author: Scott Stewart
Email: ssstew@twu.ca
