NATIONAL CHAMPIONS!!!

The Wesmen Men's Volleyball Team defeated the Alberta Golden Bears in the Gold Medal match at the CIS Men's Volleyball Championships in Hamilton. The Wesmen win their record 10th National Championship with the thrilling victory.
Click here for the whole story, the stats and the images from Hamilton.

Friday March 2 #3 WESMENvs #6 Laval (Quarterfinals) WESMEN 3 Laval 1
Saturday March 3 #3 WESMEN vs #2 UBC (Semi Final) WESMEN 3 UBC 0
Sunday March 4 #3 WESMEN vs #4 Alberta (Gold Medal Match) WESMEN 3 ALTA 2

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Friday, March 2, 2007

CIS Men's Volleyball Championships in Hamilton
Men's Volleyball vs Laval (Quarterfinals)
WESMEN def Laval 3-1 (25-20, 19-25, 25-22, 25-22)

WESMEN DEFEAT LAVAL, WILL MEET UBC IN SEMI FINAL

The Winnipeg Wesmen had a tough opening match but came thru defeating Laval 3-1 (25-20, 19-25, 25-22, 25-22) in their quarterfinal match of the CIS Men's Volleyball Championships at McMaster University in Hamilton. "Laval is a strong team and I am happy that we had a tough match right from the start because it is a sign of things to come in these cahampionships", said a relieved Wesmen Head Coach Larry McKay. Fifth year and First Team All-Canadian Richard Wiebe was named the Player of the Game finishing the match with 22 kills and an impressive attack percentage of .541. Ben Schellenberg finished with 15 kills and 11 defensive digs. The Wesmen got off to a great start winning the first set 25-20. The second set was a different story as several Winnipeg service errors helped Laval even the match winning the second set 25-19. Winnipeg was able to put the errors behind them an recovered to take the fourth set by a score of 25-22. In the fifth set the Wesmen took the match ending set by an identical 25-22 score. The third seed Wesmen will move on to one semi final against the #2 seed, the UBC Thunderbirds. The winner of the semi-final will move on to the gold medal match on Sunday. The Winnipeg-UBC semi final is scheduled to start at 5:00 p.m. (Winnipeg Time).

Canada West Final Four Championships in Vancouver
Women's Basketball vs UBC
WESMEN 77 UBC 84

TOP RANKED T-BIRDS DEFEAT TOUGH WESMEN SQUAD

The #1 ranked UBC Thunderbirds hung on to defeat the Winnipeg Wesmen 84-77 in the opening game of the Canada West Final Four Championships in Vancouver Friday night. Winnipeg dug themselves an early hole falling behind 47-34 at halftime. Fifth year forward Kim Howe led UBC with 21 points, including 11-of-14 from the free throw line to go along with eight rebounds. Winnipeg was led by fifth guard and First Team Canada West All-Star Uzo Asagwara's game high 33 points. Second year forward Nicki Schutz had her best game of her career scoring 20 points and grabbing seven rebounds. Winnipeg carried the play in the first quarter jumping out to a quick 6-0 lead, hitting three of their first four shots. UBC fought back and took the lead for the first time with 57 seconds left in the first quarter. UBC held a slim 16-13 lead after the opening quarter. In the second quarter Cait Haggarty nailed three-three pointers to lead UBC to 31 second quarter points to take a 47-34 lead at halftime. After the break Winnipeg exploded going on a 9-2 run to begin the second half to cut the UBC lead to 49-43. The two teams exchanged baskets with Winnipeg keeping pace and staying within six points with over four minutes to play in the third quarter. UBC took control of the game once again scoring eight unanswered points on their way to a 67-54 lead after three quarters. The fourth quarter saw Winnipeg go on an 8-2 run to get to within four points at 72-68. Haggarty drained another three to expand the UBC lead to 75-68 with four minutes to play. Asagwara scored seven points in the final three minutes, but the Wesmen attempted comeback fell just short. Winnipeg will take on the loser of the Alberta/Simon Fraser game in the bronze medal match Saturday evening at 7:00 p.m. Wpg Time. The winner advances to the CIS Women's National Championships in St.John's, Nfld next week.

Saturday, March 3, 2007

CIS Men's Volleyball Championships in Hamiltonl
Men's Volleyball vs UBC (Semi-Final)
WESMEN def UBC 3-0 (27-25, 25-16, 25-19)

WESMEN SWEEP UBC TO ADVANCE TO GOLD MEDAL MATCH

The #3 seed Winnipeg Wesmen swept the #2 seed UBC Thunderbirds 3-0 (27-25, 25-16, 25-19) in the semi final of the CIS Men's Volleyball Championships at McMaster University in Hamilton Saturday afternoon. The Wesmen will play for the National Championship in the gold medal match against the winner of the Trinity Western/Alberta semi final, Sunday afternoon. Andrew Town was named the Winnipeg Player of the Game finishing with nine kills and five service aces. Ben Schellenberg, Richard Wiebe and Alan Ahow all finished with 10 kills to pace the team. Winnipeg had a fight on their hands in the first set trailing 22-19 but were able to keep their focus and eventually win the first set 27-25. The tough first set seemed to inspire the Wesmen as they came out on fire in the second set. Andrew Town served up nine straight points, including five service aces to lead Winnipeg to a decisive 25-16 second set win and control of the match.The Wesmen played an error free second set finishing the set with an attack percentage of .632. With the Gold Medal match in their vision the Wesmen took advantage of several UBC attack errors to win the third set 25-19. UBC could only muster an attack percentage of a paltry .036 in the third set. Winnipeg will be looking for their first National Championship since the 1997-98 season. The gold medal match can be seen live on THE SCORE at 2:30 p.m. (Wpg Time).

Canada West Final Four Championships in Vancouver
Women's Basketball vs Simon Fraser (Bronze Medal Game)
WESMEN 73 Simon Fraser 84

WESMEN FALL TO SFU, MISS CHANCE TO GO TO NATIONALS

The Winnipeg Wesmen dropped a 84-73 decision to the Simon Fraser University Clan in the bronze medal game at the Canada West Final Four Cahmpionships at UBC in Vancouver Saturday night. The loss is a costly one for Winnipeg as they miss the opportunity to advance to the CIS Women's National Basketball Championships in St.John's, Nfld next week. The winner of the bronze medal game earns the final Canada West spot at the nationals joing UBC and Alberta who already qualified. Uzo Asagwara playing her final University game finished with 25 points to lead the Wesmen. First year post Laurelle Weigl led Simon Fraser with a game high 26 points and nine rebounds. Simon Fraser stafrted the first quarter on a quick pace led by Kelsey Thu's three-three pointers to give the Clan a 28-16 lead after the opening quarter. In the early stages of the second quarter the Wesmen were able to chip back into the game only to see the Clan match them basket for basket. The Wesmen controlled the play in the final four minutes outscoring SFU 13-3 to tie the score at 46-46 at halftime.Both teams settled down defensiveley early on in the third quarter with baskets hard to come by. The Clan drained a three at the buzzer to lead 64-61 after three quarters. Simon Fraser went on an 8-2 run in the first four minutes of the fourth quarter, led by Julia Wilson who scored six points and had a big block to set the tone in the quarter for Simon Fraser. Winnipeg was able to close the gap to within six points with just over one minute to play but were unable to get any closer. Aside from Asagwara, fifth year post Jae Pirnie and fourth year forward Stefanie Timmersman played their final university game for the Wesmen.

Sunday, March 4, 2007

CIS Men's Volleyball Championships in Hamilton
Men's Volleyball vs Alberta (Gold Medal Match)
WESMEN def Alberta 3-2 (22-25, 25-18, 25-20, 18-25, 15-10)

WESMEN NATIONAL CHAMPIONS!!!!!!
Story by Michel Belanger, CIS Comminications Manager

HAMILTON (CIS) - It took them nine years, but the Winnipeg Wesmen finally claimed their record-tying 10th Canadian Interuniversity Sport men's volleyball title.

In the fourth national final in five years to reach the limit of five sets, third-seeded Winnipeg overcame a one-set-to-none deficit to capture the Tantramar Trophy with a 22-25, 25-18, 25-20, 18-25, 15-10 victory over the No. 4 Alberta Golden Bears on Sunday at McMaster University's Burridge Gym.

The Wesmen, competing in the end-of-the-year tournament for the first time since 2002 when they lost the championship final 3-2 to Alberta, hadn't reached the top of the CIS men's volleyball world since 1998. Manitoba is the other school to boast 10 Tantramar Trophy wins.

The Canada West rivals were meeting for the second time in eight days, Winnipeg having also edged Alberta in five sets in the conference bronze-medal match last Saturday.

The Golden Bears, who were swept in straight sets by Trinity Western in last year's national final, were playing in their sixth consecutive CIS gold-medal game, winning two titles and settling for silver on four occasions over that period.

"It's an unbelievable feeling," said tournament MVP and Wesmen player of the game Dustin Addison-Schneider. "Coach (Larry) McKay stuck with us for years when we weren't having a lot of success."

"We didn't panic when we found ourselves down one set," added the fourth-year setter from Brandon, Man., who finished the day with 52 assists and a game-high 14 defensive digs. "That's the story of our season, we haven't won a lot of games in straight sets."

Richard Wiebe and Ben Schellenberg, two of 11 Winnipeg natives on the Wesmen roster, joined Addison-Schneider on the tournament all-star team and also came up big in the championship game.

Wiebe, a six-foot-four outside hitter, led all players on the court with 18 kills in his final CIS outing while Schellenberg, a six-foot-six opposite, had 13 kills, eight digs, two blocks and a pair of service aces.

"This is the best feeling. Larry (McKay) always talks about the team that won in 1998, how they had bad times and good times. Now hopefully we will be able to talk about us," commented Schellenberg. "We just tried to play one point at a time and not get too ahead of ourselves. It helped us stay focused."

McKay was leading his troops to a second national title in his 18th season at the helm.

"At the CIS championship, it isn't necessarily who is the best team, but who plays well over all three days of the tournament," said the two-time CIS coach of the year, who saw his Wesmen cruise to a 3-1 win over No. 6 Laval and a 3-0 victory over No. 2 UBC on their way to the final. "We moved the scoring around well. A number of guys played well at points and when one cooled off another would step up."

Terry Danyluk, who was named CIS coach of the year for the fourth time on Thursday, was praising his opponents following the heart-breaking loss.

"Winnipeg played well throughout the tournament and their team has been together a long time. We were still feeling ourselves out at times. I am optimistic for the future," said Danyluk, whose Bears reached the 2007 final despite losing five of seven starters from last year's silver-medal team.

"They (Winnipeg) did a good job serving today and kept us off balance. Their first contacts where also a lot better than ours."

Fourth-year middle Adam Kaminski, a six-foot-nine Chatham, Ont. native, earned game-MVP honours for Alberta following an eight-kill, three-block effort.

Libero Justin Wong and middle Derek Proudfoot, both Edmonton natives wearing the Golden Bears colours for the last time on Sunday, were named tournament all-stars. Proudfoot had 12 kills in the final, two less than team leader Joel Schmuland (Calgary).

The all-championship squad was completed by CIS player of the year Josh Howatson and Steve Rogalsky, both of the bronze-medalist Trinity Western Spartans. Daniel Smedley of McMaster received the R.W. Pugh Fair Play Award.

Alberta was trailing 21-20 in the opening frame when Schmuland and Kaminski took over the set. The Bears scored five of the last six points on a pair of kills and an ace by Schmuland, a kill by Kaminski, and a combined block by the dynamic duo.

The Wesmen took the following two sets in almost identical fashion, going on multiple-point runs midway through the stanza to separate themselves from their Canada West rivals.

In the second, the new champions were holding on to a one-point lead at 17-16 when they scored five straight with Ryan DeBruyn (Ottawa) on serve. DeBruyn was back at it on the set-clinching point, putting the Bears in trouble with a powerful serve before Andrew Town closed the deal with a kill.

Leading 12-10 in the third, Winnipeg went on a 6-1 run and never looked back, the decisive streak culminating with a kill and an ace by Schellenberg.

The Bears wouldn't go down without a fight and it was their turn to go on a run in the fourth set. Trailing 15-14, Alberta scored 11 of the last 14 points, including five straight with setter Brock Pehar (Oakville, Ont.) on serve.

The ultimate set would belong to Schellenberg and Wiebe.

A pair of Schellenberg kills gave the Wesmen an early 5-3 cushion, and his block opened a three-point gap at 8-5. With their team ahead 12-10, Wiebe made it a three-point game again at 13-10, a Schellenberg block made it 14-10, and Wiebe sealed the win with an ace.

Winnipeg had 60 kills, 45 digs and seven service aces on the day, compared to 50, 30 and three for Alberta. The Bears had a 13.5-to-8 edge in blocks.

The 2008 CIS men's volleyball championship will be hosted by Laval University in Quebec City.

STAT LEADERS

Winnipeg
Points: Richard Wiebe (20), Ben Schellenberg (17)
Kills: Richard Wiebe (18), Ben Schellenberg (13)
Blocks: Ryan DeBruyn (2.5), Ben Schellenberg (2)
Digs: Dustin Addison-Schneider (14)
Assists: Dustin Addison-Schneider (52)

Player of the Game: Dustin Addison-Schneider

Alberta
Points: Joel Schmuland (16), Derek Proudfoot (15)
Kills: Joel Schmuland (14), Derek Proudfoot (12)
Blocks: Adam Kaminski (3.5)
Digs: Justin Wong (8)
Assists: Brock Pehar (45)

Player of the Game: Adam Kaminski

CHAMPIONSHIP AWARDS

Tournament MVP: Dustin Addison-Schneider

R.W. Pugh Fair Play Award: Daniel Smedley, McMaster

Tournament All-Stars:
Dustin Addison-Schneider, Winnipeg
Richard Wiebe, Winnipeg
Ben Schellenberg, Winnipeg
Josh Howatsun, Trinity Western
Steve Rogalski, Trinity Western
Justin Wong, Alberta
Derek Proudfoot, Alberta