March 4 - Manitoba Bisons 3, Laval Rouge et Or 1 (25-16, 23-25, 25-21, 25-14)

Ste-Foy, QC (CIAU) - The University of Manitoba Bisons won their second straight CIAU men's volleyball title on Sunday afternoon with a four-set victory over the hometown favourite Laval Rouge et Or. In short, the Rouge et Or were forced to play catch-up all match against the powerful, No.1-ranked Bisons. Laval started the four sets down 1-4, 2-5, 1-5 and 3-6 respectively.

In the first, tournament MVP Mike Munday ended a dominating Manitoba performance with a ferocious kill. The Bisons led the opener by as many as eight points, before winning the set 25-16.

In the second, after another shaky start (1-5), Laval finally tied the game at 11-11 and took its first lead on a Peter Turpin miss. After Manitoba took back the advantage at 22-20, Rouge et Or middle Mathieu Lagrandeur started to shine with a pair of kills to put Laval up 24-23, before coming up with a huge block for the 25-23 set victory.

The third set was played in three parts. The Bisons stormed out of the gates 21-11, but then hit a wall, allowing the Rouge et Or to come as close as 20-23 on two blocks by rookie middle Pierre-Andre Perron. But in the end, Ryan Pomeroy saved the day with a kill to end it at 25-21.

The final set again saw the Bisons take an early 6-3 lead, but the Rouge et Or did find their legs to climb back to 7-7. But the game was decided when, at 12-10, Manitoba's 6'9'' middle Peter Turpin got into a zone with three consecutive blocks to make it 15-10. Then it was two kills each by Daniel Lewis and Bryan Enns, and a final Turpin block that sealed the 25-14 fourth set win and the CIAU crown.

The Bisons not only win their second CIAU Championship in a row, but also claim their fourth title in the past seven seasons. Laval settled for their second silver medal in their last three trips to the Nationals.

Players of the Game

Manitoba - Peter Turpin (3 kills, 10 blocks)
Laval - Bruno Pelletier (7 kills, 7 blocks)

Stats Leaders

Manitoba
Bryan Enns 15 kills,
Ryan Pomeroy 6 digs,
Peter Turpin 10 blocks

Laval
Eric Lebreton 19 kills, 7 blocks
Yan Lagrandeur 8 digs
Bruno Pelletier 7 blocks

What they said

Pascal Clement, Laval head coach: 'This one is hard to accept because for us, it's the end, at least in the short term, of our dream of winning the Championship here at Laval. But I guess we'll have to get over it.'

Bryan Enns, Manitoba: 'Two Championships in a row, I can't think of a better way to end my CIAU career. We just played great from day one.'

Mike Munday was named Tournament M.V.P.

Bryan Enns and Dan Lewis were named to the tournament all-star team.

For all the results please see the CIAU Men's Volleyball Championship site.