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Bobcats win CIS bronze in 4th season
Courtesy of U of Alberta sports information
EDMONTON (CIS) - Second-team all-Canadian Paul Sanderson exploded for 29 kills as the No. 4-seeded Brandon Bobcats, in only their fourth season on the university circuit, captured the bronze medal at the 2009 CIS men's volleyball championship with a four-set win (25-20, 19-25, 25-15, 25-17) over the No. 3 McMaster Marauders, Sunday, at the University of Alberta's main gym.
Championship website: www.cisport.ca/e/championships/m_volleyball/2009
The Bobcats' exploit comes one year after Thompson Rivers, which also joined CIS in volleyball in 2005-06, finished third in Quebec City.
"Were happy winning the medal. There have been a lot of growing pains and pleasures for our program the last four years," said Brandon head coach Russ Paddock, who also led his team to a first Canada West final this year. "Certainly getting to this game and helping our conference win a medal is a big step."
The fourth-place finish by OUA champion McMaster is the best result in the program's history and the highest finish by an OUA team since Toronto was fourth in 1997-98. The Marauders' best ranking in eight previous CIS tourney appearances was a fifth position in 1990-91.
"It's a process. Last year we got here as the OUA champions and we weren't able to get through that first round. This year we came here and we got through to the semi-final and next year we have to take that next step," said Marauders head coach Dave Preston.
"I think we gave it everything we had today, I just don't think we had very much left in the tank. Our spirit got broken against Laval in the semis, and it takes us longer than 18 hours to recover from a broken spirit. Having never played (Brandon) before it was tough because we weren't familiar with them, but they have everything you need to be a championship team," added Preston.
Sanderson, a 6-foot-3 left side from Melbourne, Australia, was named player of the match for the victors after he made only three attacking errors for an astounding .542 hitting efficiency. Of his 29 kills, 10 came in the first set alone, which was more than McMaster had as a team during the opening frame.
Kevin Miller chipped in with nine kills, four digs and one block, while Joel Small added eight kills, three digs and two blocks.
Efficiency on offence proved the difference in the contest as Brandon clicked at a .337 as a team, while McMaster was held to .186, including .048 in the third set and .083 in the fourth and final stanza.
Peter Hrkal was the most productive Marauder on offence with 13 kills and only three errors, a performance that earned him McMaster-MVP honours.
Second-team all-Canadian Jeremy Groenveld was held to nine kills and committed seven errors.
After leading the entire opening set, Brandon slipped in the second frame, losing 25-19, but the 'Cats responded with dominating performances in the third and fourth.
"It seemed like we were in control most of the match, and I think we felt the first set came a little two easy and we lost focus in the second," said Paddock. "We realized there was a match going on in the third, and we buckled down and we stayed focused point-by-point in the third and fourth set."
STATS LEADERS
Brandon
Kills: Paul Sanderson (29), Kevin Miller (9), Joel Small (8)
Blocks: Paul Sanderson (2)
Digs: Andrew Korol (11)
Assists: Andrew Korol (40)
Player of the match: Paul Sanderson
McMaster
Kills: Peter Krkal (13), Jeremy Groenveld (9), Josh Lichty (8)
Blocks: Josh Lichty (4)
Digs: Ryan Hudson (7)
Assists: Ryan Hudson (34)
Player of the match: Peter Hrkal
SCHEDULE & RESULTS (all times LOCAL: Mountain Time)
Video webcast of all main-bracket games (quarters, semis, bronze, final) available through:
www.cisport.ca/e/championships/m_volleyball/2009
Friday, February 27
Quarter-final #1: Laval 3, Winnipeg 0 (25-23, 25-22, 25-20)
Quarter-final #2: McMaster 3, Thompson Rivers 2 (26-24, 23-25, 25-17, 18-25, 15-12)
Quarter-final #3: Alberta 3, UNB 0 (25-12, 25-17, 25-21)
Quarter-final #4: Brandon 3, Dalhousie 2 (17-25, 26-24, 12-25, 25-21, 15-9)
Saturday, February 28
Consolation #1: Thompson Rivers 3, Winnipeg 0 (25-22, 25-23, 25-20)
Consolation #2: Dalhousie 3, UNB 0 (25-11, 25-21, 25-16)
Semi-final #1: Laval 3, McMaster 2 (25-20, 25-23, 30-28)
Semi-final #2: Alberta 3, Brandon 0 (25-20, 25-14, 25-22)
Sunday, March 1
5th place: Dalhousie 3, Thompson Rivers 2 (25-23, 25-15, 19-25, 18-25, 15-12)
Bronze medal: Brandon 3, McMaster 1 (25-20, 19-25, 25-15, 25-17)
18:00 Championship final: No. 2 Laval vs. No. 1 Alberta (SHAW TV local)
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