The Manitoba Bisons men's volleyball team are the Canada West silver medallist after the 2017 Canada West Final Four hosted by Manitoba on March 10-11 weekend. The squad is the second seed for the 2017 U SPORTS Men's Volleyball Championship being held from March 17-19 at University of Alberta in Edmonton.
The Bisons (regular season: 21-3 record; playoffs: 1-1) will play against the seven seed and host Alberta Golden Bears (20-4 regular season; 2-1 playoffs) in their first game on Friday, March 17 at 7:30 p.m. CT (live webcast: http://sportscanada.tv/usports/2017-mens-volleyball-championship).
Manitoba last played Alberta at a U SPORTS championship in 2005 when Alberta won 3-0 in a semifinal match at Laval. The Bisons have met the Bears in Edmonton during the U SPORTS championship in 2003 when the Herd won 3-0 in the gold medal match.
Manitoba plays Alberta, fourth in the Final Four, for the third time this season after winning both home matches in mid-November (W 3-1 on Nov. 18/16; W 3-2 on Nov. 19/16).
The Bisons have been ranked for all 2016-17 and was at one point in this season number one in the country for four consecutive weeks (Jan. 31-Feb. 15, 2017). The Bison men's volleyball team had an amazing 20 match conference win streak (Nov. 4/16-Feb. 11/17) to propel them to first place during 2016-17.
The veteran laden 17 person team have eight graduating players on the roster (libero Caleb Hickok, setter Luke Herr, middle Josh Crellin, right side Devren Dear, left side Evan Jackson, libero Alex Strachan, assistant captain and left side/libero Kevin Falconer plus captain and middle Ken Rooney) that has a good mix of student-athletes who have also played with the Bison men's volleyball program over the last one to four years. Assistant captain and left side
Adam DeJonckheere,
Scott Vercaigne, setter
Caleb Konrad and middle
Jordan Dragojevic are in their fourth year while libero
Dustin Spiring is third year eligibility plus right side sophomore
Kevin Negus and then three rookies (libero
Kyle Martens, middle
David Penner, left side
Grant Legaree).
Despite the experience, Strachan and Jackson are the only two Bisons to be at a national championship before (Strachan red-shirted in 2012; Jackson played in 2012).
This is the first time the Bisons has qualified for the U SPORTS championships since the 2011-12 season and Manitoba seeks a record 11th national championship in the program's history. The Herd last won the U SPORTS championship in 2002-03 season and was a bronze medalist in the last appearance by Manitoba in 2012.
2017 U SPORTS Men's Volleyball Championship seeding:
1. Trinity Western
2. Manitoba
3. UBC
4. Laval
5. McMaster
6. UNB
7. Alberta
8. Waterloo
Friday, March 17 (all times are Central Time)
2 p.m. #1 Trinity Western vs. #8 Waterloo
3:30 p.m. #4 Laval vs. #5 McMaster
7:30 p.m. #2 Manitoba vs. #7 Alberta
9 p.m. #3 UBC vs. #6 UNB
Saturday, March 18
2 p.m. Consolation Semifinal #1
3:30 p.m. Consolation Semifinal #2
7:30 p.m. Semifinal #1
9 p.m. Semifinal #2
Sunday, March 19
1 p.m. Consolation Final
4 p.m. Bronze medal game
7 p.m. Gold medal game
Bison Notes: In the 2017 men's volleyball playoffs, Manitoba earned a bye in the conference Quarter-final as they were number one in Canada West and earned a bye and then hosted the Final Four on March 10-11. The Herd defeated #4 seed and U SPORTS #6 ranked UBC by a 3-0 result in the semifinal and then lost a tough five setter to #2 seed and U SPORTS #1 ranked Trinity Western in the gold medal match in front of a loud and boisterous crowds on both nights.
