Wesmen Game Results - February 27 - March 1, 2009

Friday, February 27, 2009

AWAY:

Men's Volleyball (CIS Men's Volleyball Championships @ Alberta)

#7 WESMEN vs #2 Laval (Quarter-Final) 
Laval def WESMEN 3-0 (25-23, 25-22, 25-20)

WESMEN FALL TO LAVAL IN QUARTERFINALS

Winnipeg's dream of a gold medal came to a halt as the #2 seed Laval Rouge et Or defeated the #7 seed Winnipeg Wesmen 3-0 (25-23, 25-22, 25-20) in quarterfinal action Friday afternoon at the CIS Men's Volleyball Championship being held at the University of Alberta in Edmonton.

Quebec champion Laval, which went 18-0 in QSSF conference play, advances to Saturday's first semi-final at 6:30 p.m. Mountain Time, where they will face the winners of the quarterfinal duel between No. 3 McMaster and No. 6 Thompson Rivers. #7 Winnipeg will face the loser of the second quarterfinal Saturday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. (Wpg Time)

Second year LS Karl De Grandpre led Laval with a match high 17 kills. Fifth year left side Thierry Lavigne had 15 kills and Frederic Desbiens finished the match with 14 kills.

Fourth year outside and Canada West All-Star Andrew Town led the Wesmen with 14 kills. Third year middle Justin Duff had 11 kills and three blocks. Duff was named the Wesmen Player of the Match for his efforts.

"They got some great kills from their outside guys. There are a few things we could have done better in the match", said Justin Duff.

Laval gained the early advantage in a tight first set leading 8-7 at the first technical timeout. The Wesmen gained momentum in the middle part of the set trailing 11-8 until kills by Alan Ahow, Town and a block by Duff tied the score at 11-11. The teams exchanged points to the second timeout with Laval holding a slim 16-14 lead. The Rouge et Or carried their two point margin for the remainder of the set going on to win the first set 25-23.

Winnipeg gained the advantage in the opening stages of set number two holding an 8-7 lead at the first timeout. Laval regrouped going on a 7-2 run to open up a 14-10 lead. Winnipeg answered right back scoring three unanslead points to cut Laval's lead to 14-13. Laval held a slim 16-15 lead at thew second break of the set and eventually went on to take control of the match winning the second set 25-22.

Laval continued their agressive play in the third set keeping the Wesmen attack off balance. Laval led 8-6 at the first technical and extended their lead to 16-11 at the second break of the set. The Rouge et Or closed out the match winning the third set 25-20.

Laval finished with an attack percentage of .426 compared to Winnipeg's .303. Laval outblocked Winnipeg by a margin of 12-8.


Saturday, February 28, 2009

AWAY:

Men's Volleyball (CIS Men's Volleyball Championships @ Alberta)

Consolation Semi-Final

Thompson Rivers def WESMEN 3-0 (25-22, 25-23, 25-20)

WOLFPACK SWEEP WESMEN TO END SEASON

The Winnipeg Wesmen season came to an end after the Thompson Rivers Wolfpack defeated the Wesmen 3-0 (25-22, 25-23, 25-20) in the consolation semi-final Saturday afternoon at the CIS Men’s Volleyball Championship at the University of Alberta in Edmonton .

Josh Boruck led Thompson Rivers with a match high 13 kills. Gord Perrin was next with 10 kills. Colin Jaggard had a match high eight defensive digs. Boruck was named the Wolfpack Player of the Game.

Andrew Town led the Wesmen with 11 kills. Alan Ahow finished with seven. Paul Kjos and Chad Rempel led the team with five digs each. Kjos had two blocks to lead Winnipeg.

The Wolfpack relied on timely blocks in the first set and were able to shut down Winnipeg's attack. The Wolfpack led 8-4 at the first technical timeout and continued their strong play at the net to extend their lead to 16-11 at the second break of the opening set. A 3-1 run gave the Wolfpack there biggest lead of the opening set at 19-12. After a Wesmen timeout, Head Coach Larry McKay went to his bench to change things up a little and it seemed to work with Winnipeg scoring five of the next seven points to cut the Wolfpack lead to 21-17. Thompson Rivers regrouped to take a 24-19 lead. Winnipeg fought off three set points before Thompson Rivers went on to win the opening set 25-22. The Wolfpack had five team blocks in the opening set.

In set number two, Thompson Rivers led 8-6 at the first technical timeout and after a Winnipeg service error continued to hold a two point lead at 16-14 at the second break. The teams continued to exchange points in a close and evenly played set until the Wolfpack took control of the match winning the second set 25-23. Andrew Town was able to find his game picking up six kills in the set after managing a single kill in the opening set.

The Wolfpack carried their momentum into set number three leading 8-5 at the first timeout of the set. The determined Wesmen did not fold reeling off six of the next nine points to the score at 11-11. The Wolfpack went into the second timeout leading 16-14. The sixth ranked Wolfpack closed put the match with a 9-6 run to win the third set 25-20.

Three Wesmen players played their final match in the contest, Andrew Town, Alan Ahow and Paul Kjos leave the Wesmen Men’s Volleyball Program with two CIS Men’s Volleyball Championship medals (gold in 2007 and silver in 2008.)