The University of Calgary defeated the Trinity Western Spartans 3-1 in the final of the Canadian Interuniversity Sport men's volleyball final Sunday, giving the Dinos their first title in 17 years.
Set scores were 25-22, 25-21, 23-25 and 27-25.
Calgary last won the national title in 1993, beating Montreal 3-0. The Dinos advanced to the final by beating two-time defending champion Alberta 3-2 in the semifinals.
"We came into this tournament knowing that we had to play our best volleyball," Dinos coach Rod Durrant said. "We got better as the tournament went on. We were underdogs against Alberta and found a way to play hard. This game was a battle as well."
Durrant thought his team played very well in the first two sets, excelling at passing.
"The third set we did some good things," he added. "We got the lead but came up with some unforced errors. They got the momentum. But in the fourth set, I thought we really went to a different level."
Championship MVP Graham Vigrass led his team with 16 kills and had 10 digs. Curtis James had 11 kills while middle Oleg Podporin, one of six fifth-year players in the Dinos' lineup, added 10 kills.
Trinity Western was led by tournament all-star Steven Marshall, who had 24 kills and 10 digs. Fellow all-star Marc Howatson added 12 kills.
"I don't think we matched Calgary's defensive intensity in the first half of the match," said Spartans head coach Ben Josephson. "We responded in the third set. I thought we were swinging hard but they made more plays than we did when it counted."
In the bronze-medal match, Alberta defeated Laval 25-17, 25-21, 30-28.
The Bears were led by led by fourth-year middle Spencer Leiske, who had 17 kills and eight digs. Thomas Jarmoc had 10 kills, while Mike DeRocco added 42 assists.
Laval's top offensive players were Frederic Desbiens and Karl De Grandpre with 13 kills each. Justin Boudreault had 34 assists.