U Sports men's volleyball

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U Sports men's volleyball
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Formerly CIAU Volleyball
CIS Volleyball
Sport Volleyball
Founded 1966
No. of teams 31, in four conferences
Country Canada
Most recent champion(s) Trinity Western Spartans (2019)
Most titles Manitoba Bisons (10)
Winnipeg Wesmen (10)[1]
Related competitions U Sports Volleyball Championship
Official website usports.ca/en/sports/volleyball/m

U Sports men's volleyball is the highest level of amateur play of men's indoor volleyball in Canada and operates under the auspices of U Sports (formerly Canadian Interuniversity Sport). Thirty-one teams from Canadian universities are divided into three athletic conferences, drawing from the three of the four regional associations of U Sports: Canada West Universities Athletic Association (CW), Ontario University Athletics (OUA), and Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ). The Atlantic University Sport (AUS) formerly featured men's volleyball as a U Sports championship sport, but it was removed following the 2017–18 season. The 31 participating teams compete in a regular season and following intra-conference playoffs, eight teams are selected to play in a national tournament to compete for the U Sports men's volleyball championship.

Brief history

Men's university volleyball can be traced back to the 1950s when teams like the Alberta Golden Bears would play organized matches against other schools in the Western Canadian Intercollegiate Athletic Association (WCIAA).[2][3] The Atlantic Intercollegiate Athletic Association (AIAA) first awarded a conference championship in men's volleyball in 1961 with the Acadia Axemen being the conference's first dominant presence.[4][5] The Ontario-Quebec Athletic Association (O-QAA) first awarded a conference title to the Toronto Varsity Blues which came in the 1965–66 season.[6][7]

The CIAU organized the first national championship tournament which was held in Calgary, Alberta in 1967 and featured the UBC Thunderbirds defeating the Mount Allison Mounties and then the Sherbrooke Vert et Or in the championship match to be named the first national champions.[8][9][10]

In 1971, Quebec universities made the decision to restrict conference competition to within their own province and the Quebec Universities Athletic Association was created, leaving the O-QAA to be renamed the Ontario Universities Athletic Association (OUAA).[7][11] Teams were further sub-divided in 1972 in the WCIAA, with the Manitoba Bisons, Winnipeg Wesmen, and Regina Cougars playing in the separate Great Plains Athletic Association (later renamed Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC)) while the remaining teams from Alberta and British Columbia played in the Canada West Universities Athletic Association (CWUAA).[3] The GPAC and CWUAA combined back into one conference starting in the 2001–02 season.[3]

The members of the Atlantic University Sport (AUS) conference (formerly the MIAA) had seen a reduction over the years and would play regular season inter-conference games with the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ, formerly QUAA).[12] The Memorial Sea-Hawks discontinued their men's volleyball program after the 2016–17 season, leaving the AUS with only two teams, which was below the three-team league minimum for a varsity sport.[12] After a transition year, the Dalhousie Tigers and UNB Reds joined the RSEQ, resulting in the AUS conference's exit from men's volleyball.[13]

Season structure

Exhibition season

To prepare for the season, teams will typically play a series of exhibition games against conference and non-conference opponents.[14] These games are usually played in September and/or October before the regular season and in December and/or January during the holiday break.[15] In 2019, the Can Am Volleyball Holiday Showcase was created which featured eight teams from across North America, including those competing in the NCAA.[16] The 2019 tournament featured four U Sports teams and four NCAA teams, including the defending U Sports national champion Trinity Western Spartans and the NCAA national champion Long Beach State Beach.[17]

File:Volleyball RetO 3.jpg
The Laval Rouge et Or against the Montreal Carabins at PEPS in 2013.

Regular season

As of the 2019–20 season, the Canada West and RSEQ regular seasons begin on the third weekend of October while the OUA schedule begins on the following weekend. All regular season games are in-conference and the schedule ends in approximately mid-February.[14][18][19]

In the RSEQ conference, the five teams play against each opponent four times (twice home and twice away) for a total of 16 regular season games.[19] In the OUA, the 13 teams are divided into two divisions with six teams in the West Division and seven teams in the East Division.[20] Each team plays home-and-home matches against teams in their own division and plays one game against each team in the opposite division. This results in each OUA East team playing 18 games and each OUA West team playing 17 games.[20] In Canada West, there were 12 teams in one conference that played two matches against every opponent resulting in 22 total games played.[18] However, this format will change with the addition of the UFV Cascades beginning play for the 2020–21 season.[21]

Following the conclusion of the regular season, the best player in U Sports Men's volleyball is given the Player of the Year Award.[22] An award is also given to the Rookie of the Year and the Dale Iwanoczko Award is given to the best well-rounded student (volleyball, academics and community involvement). An award was also given for the Libero of the Year, but it was discontinued after the 2014–15 season.[23]

Playoffs

File:2019 Volleyball, York Lions vs Brock Badgers 03.jpg
The York Lions hosting the Brock Badgers in 2019.

After the regular season, playoff games and series are held between the top teams in each conference to determine conference champions. In the RSEQ, the top four teams qualify for the playoffs and play a best-of-three series in the semi-finals and in the conference championship.[19] In Canada West, the top eight teams qualify for the playoffs and play best-of-three series in playoff brackets in the quarterfinals.[24] The winners of these series play in best-of-three semifinals until two teams remain where they play in a single elimination conference championship game.[24]

The OUA is the only conference that features a single elimination format in all playoff games.[20] The top four teams from each of the two divisions qualify and play an inter-divisional format. This means the first-seeded team in the East Division plays the fourth-seeded team in the West Division and the second-seeded team in the East Division plays the third-seeded team in the West Division (and vice versa).[20] The winners of these games play semi-final games at the site of the highest remaining seed over one weekend (highest west seed in even-numbered years, highest east seed in odd-numbered years). The conference bronze medal game and gold medal game (Forsyth Cup) are played at the same site on the same weekend.[25]

National championship

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Main article: U Sports Men's Volleyball Championship

The U Sports men's volleyball championship was introduced for the 1966–67 season to determine a national champion for the CIAU.[8][9] A predetermined host university stages the eight-team tournament over three days and finals games are played on the last day to award gold, silver, and bronze medals.[26] The host team is automatically qualified for the tournament, as are each of the conference champions. Four other teams are entered based on the strength of their conferences and their post-season finishes.[26] The Manitoba Bisons and Winnipeg Wesmen have won the most championships with 10 gold medals won apiece, although the Bisons have won the most medals overall (24 for Manitoba and 15 for Winnipeg).[8][10] Quebec City has hosted the most championships with 12 which were all hosted by Université Laval (most recently in 2019).[8] The national championship has historically been dominated by the Canada West conference with those teams winning 46 of the 53 championship matches as of the 2019–20 season.[8][10] The OUA and AUS have never had a national men's volleyball champion. The 2020 championship tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[27]

Teams

Membership

The AUS conference had featured three teams following the exit of the Moncton Aigles Bleus in 2006 and featured inter-conference matches with the RSEQ.[28] The RSEQ had also been reduced to three teams in 2011 after McGill disbanded their men's program.[29][30] The Memorial Sea-Hawks folded their program after the 2016–17 season, leaving the AUS with one team short of the three-team minimum for a varsity league.[12] However, the AUS allowed Dalhousie and UNB to play a transitional season before joining the RSEQ as full members for the 2018–19 season.[13]

Conversely, the Canada West conference added teams with the UBCO Heat joining in 2011–12, Mount Royal Cougars in 2012–13, and MacEwan Griffins in 2014–15.[31][32] While the Regina Cougars program was cut following the 2017–18 season, the Fraser Valley Cascades volleyball program joined for the 2020–21 season.[33][21]

There were 30 teams that had participated in the 2019–20 Men's volleyball season. 31 teams are scheduled to compete in a 2020–21 season if one is played.[34]

File:U Sports Men's Volleyball Locations.png

Canada West

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University Varsity Name City Province Arena CWC NC
University of British Columbia Thunderbirds Vancouver BC War Memorial Gymnasium 5 4
Trinity Western University Spartans Langley BC Langley Events Centre 6 6
University of the Fraser Valley Cascades Abbotsford BC UFV Athletic Centre 0 0
Thompson Rivers University WolfPack Kamloops BC Tournament Capital Centre 0 0
University of British Columbia Okanagan Heat Kelowna BC UBC Okanagan Gymnasium 0 0
University of Calgary Dinos Calgary AB Jack Simpson Gymnasium 9 4
Mount Royal University Cougars Calgary AB Kenyon Court 0 0
University of Alberta Pandas Edmonton AB Saville Community Sports Centre 13 8
MacEwan University Griffins Edmonton AB Dr. David W. Atkinson Gymnasium 0 0
University of Saskatchewan Huskies Saskatoon SK Physical Activity Complex 10 4
Brandon University Bobcats Brandon MB Healthy Living Centre 2 0
University of Manitoba Bisons Winnipeg MB Investors Group Athletic Centre 2 10
University of Winnipeg Wesmen Winnipeg MB Duckworth Centre 0 10
  • Note: Conference titles won by teams in the Great Plains Athletic Conference (1972-73 season to 2000–01 season) are not included in the above table due to lack of information on this conference.[3]

Ontario University Athletics

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University Varsity Name City Province Arena OC NC
West Division
University of Windsor Lancers Windsor ON St. Denis Centre 0 0
University of Western Ontario Mustangs London ON Alumni Hall 5 0
University of Waterloo Warriors Waterloo ON Physical Activities Complex 4 0
University of Guelph Gryphons Guelph ON Guelph Gryphons Athletic Centre 1 0
McMaster University Marauders Hamilton ON Burridge Gymnasium 9 0
Brock University Badgers St. Catharines ON Bob Davis Gymnasium 0 0
East Division
Nipissing University Lakers North Bay ON Robert J. Surtees Student Athletics Centre 0 0
York University Lions Toronto ON Tait McKenzie Centre 9 0
University of Toronto Varsity Blues Toronto ON Goldring Centre 15 0
Ryerson University Rams Toronto ON Mattamy Athletic Centre 0 0
Trent University Excalibur Peterborough ON Trent Athletics Centre 0 0
Queen's University Gaels Kingston ON Athletics & Recreation Centre 7 0
Royal Military College of Canada Paladins Kingston ON SAM Gym 0 0

Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec

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University Varsity Name City Province Arena CC NC
Université de Montréal Carabins Montreal QC CEPSUM 5 1
Université Laval Rouge et Or Quebec City QC PEPS gymnase 34 4
Université de Sherbrooke Vert et Or Sherbrooke QC Centre sportif Yvon-Lamarche 10 1
University of New Brunswick Reds Fredericton NB Richard J Currie Centre 9 0
Dalhousie University Tigers Halifax NS Dalplex Fieldhouse 36 0
  • Note: The UNB Reds and Dalhousie Tigers moved from the AUS to the RSEQ starting with the 2018–19 season.[13]

References

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  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 20.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  31. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  32. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  33. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  34. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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