Watch above: The Saskatchewan Huskies were downed by top-seeded McMaster Marauders in quarter-final action at the CIS men’s volleyball championship taking place in Saskatoon. Kim Thue with the highlights and Jack Haskins with post-match comments.
SASKATOON – The No. 2 seeded Dalhousie Tigers fended off a comeback bid from the No. 7 seeded York Lions with a 3-2 win in the first quarter-final of the 2015 CIS men’s volleyball championship taking place in Saskatoon. Set scores were 25-23, 25-19, 25-27, 16-25, and 15-13.
Kristen O’Brien had a team-high 17 kills for Dalhousie, Alex Dempsey put up 14 and Bryan Duquette contributed 13. Fourth-year setter Jonathan Macdonald dished 45 assists, while second-year libero Adam Sandeson finished with a team-high 11 digs.
York was paced by Ray Szeto’s match-high 20 kills. CIS Rookie of the Year Josh Henderson put up 12 kills, while Nikola Sandic had a match-high 46 assists.
Dalhousie worked to a 23-19 lead in the third set before York battled back. Fifth-year outside hitter Ray Szeto’s back row attack tied the set at 24-24 before a block by Nikola Sandich gave the Lions a 25-24 lead.
The two teams traded points before an attack by Dalhousie sailed just past the end line. The line judge ruled the ball in before the umpire overturned the call, giving York a 27-25 third set victory.
A big block by Matthew Donovan gave Dalhousie an 8-5 lead in fifth set, but York battled back to a 12-12 tie. Dalhousie closed out the match despite a last ditch effort from the Lions.
“York really fought back hard, with their backs against the wall in the third set and they really deserve a lot of credit,” Dalhousie head coach Dan Ota said. “Our guys are a lot more comfortable playing in these tight situations, so we knew what we had to do. We had to get on and play that fifth set, so I’m really happy with how our guys bounced back.”
Watch below: Quarter-final highlights from the CIS men’s volleyball championship taking place in Saskatoon
The Tigers move to the semifinal Friday against the Alberta Golden Bears, while York drops to the consolation semifinal against the Waterloo Warriors.
The defending champion Golden Bears defeated the Warriors in straight sets, 25-14, 25-12, 25-22 in Thursday’s other quarter-finals action.
Alberta’s experience on the national stage showed in the first two sets of the match.
Tied at two in the first set, the Golden Bears went on a seven point run courtesy of serves by Taylor Arnett for a 9-2 lead. Waterloo couldn’t seem to recover in the set losing 25-14.
The Golden Bears broke away in the middle of the second set to stop any momentum the Warriors had gathered from keeping pace to begin the game.
At 7-6 after a Jordan McConkey kill, Alberta’s Arnett turned the ball back to the Bears. From that point, Alberta took over and didn’t let Waterloo score more than one point at a time. The Warriors scored just six more in the set. Alberta went on a four-point run including an ace by Brett Walsh for the 25-12 win.
“I thought our guys really prepared well and I thought we did a really good job at doing the things we talked about doing coming in,” said Alberta head coach Terry Danyluk. “I was just proud of the way the guys prepared and performed. Hopefully, we continue to prepare well and playing well and at this level at this championship is all I can ask for.”
In other quarter-finals play, third-year outside hitter Ryan Sclater powered the No. 5 Trinity Western University Spartans to a straight sets victory over the No. 4 Laval Rouge et Or, 25-14, 25-14, 25-19.
Trinity Western will face the No. 1 seed McMaster Marauders in the second of two semifinal matches Friday.
Sclater recorded a match-high 11 kills and six digs in the win. Named the player of the match for the Spartans, he also added two service aces and one block assist. CIS MVP Nicholas Del Bianco added another 10 kills for Trinity Western.
“It was a good match for us,” said Spartans head coach Ben Josephson. “The guys executed what we were trying to do tactically. We wanted to dictate the emotion of the match and I thought the guys did a good job of that.”
READ MORE: Huskies embrace ‘underdog’ role at men’s volleyball championship
McMaster defeated the host University of Saskatchewan Huskies in straight sets 26-24, 25-20, 25-18 to book its spot against the Spartans.
“They are a pretty good team and ranked No. 1,” said Huskies head coach Brian Gavlas. “It’s a national championship and now we are going to do our best to finish as best as we can.”
Saskatchewan will play Laval in the other consolation semifinal.
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