March 1 - Tonight in Edmonton the #1 seeded Manitoba Bisons Men's Volleyball team won its third CIS Championship in the last four years with a convincing straight set victory over the #2 seeded Alberta Golden Bears. Before a more than capacity crowd of approximately 2,800 people at the U of A's main gym, the Bisons quieted the rabid pro-Bears fans quickly in the first set and never looked back en route to a 25-18, 25-21, 25-21 victory.

The Championship was the Bisons 10th overall and 9th under Head Coach Garth Pischke in his 23 years at the helm of the Bisons. It was also his second since returning to the U of M three years ago after a four year stint with the Canadian Men's National Volleyball team.

The victory was also the third for three graduating fifth year players, David Texeira, Troy Plummer, and tournament All-Star Peter Turpin, all of whom were outstanding in their last matches in a Bison uniform.

Tournament MVP Mike Munday and fourth year opposite side hitter Tim Cooper were also on fire tonight. Munday had 5 kills, 11 digs, 1 service ace and 4 blocks and Cooper had one of his best matches of the season as he led all players in the match with a game-high 16 kills.

For the Bears, CIS Player of the Year Pascal Cardinal who was also a tournament All-Star and teammate Brad Bell another All-Star did what they could to stem the Bison attack as both players finished with 9 kills a piece, but the Herd had too much on this night as they avenged last year's CIS semi-final loss at the hands of the Bears and also de-throned the defending National Champs

Set 1 Re-Cap
In set 1 the Bisons quickly quieted the raucous pro-Bears crowd by jumping out to an 8-4 lead at the first technical time-out. The Bisons continued to pound out the kills and do the job on defense as they led 16-11 at the second technical. Manitoba extended its lead to 20-13 on a huge Dave Texeira stuff block after libero Troy Plummer had dug up an Alberta kill attempt that looked like it was a sure bet to hit the floor. Plummer was once again outstanding as he passed flawlessly and dug up 4 balls in total tonight. Alberta could get no closer in the first as Tim Cooper and Pete Turpin took over in the latter part of the set. Turpin hammered one off the block and stuffed an Alberta attempt to put the Herd ahead 23-16. Cooper then put down one of his six kills in the first set to get the Herd to set point. On set point Pascal Cardinal got one back for the Bears with a vicious cross-court attack and then Matt Johnson nailed a service ace. However on the very next point, Johnson hit one into the net to give Manitoba the first set 25-18

Set 2 Re-Cap
Set 2 was a near carbon copy of the first as the Bisons kill efficiency was 39.3% to the Bears 20.7% . Like the first set, Manitoba never trailed in the second frame jumping out to an 8-6 lead. The Bisons extended their lead to 16-11 at the second technical and were first to 20 with a 20-16 lead. Munday then took over as he did for much of the tournament with another acrobatic dunk at 20-18 and a great set from his knees to Cooper to make it 22-19. After Turpin and Cooper made it 24-20 with consecutive kills off the block, Munday came up with an incredible dig off of a dunk from Alberta setter Ryan Taylor. Manitoba did not win the point as Cardinal put down one of his team high 9 kills, but on their second set-point attempt, Cooper hammered one deep into the Bears court to seal set #2.

Set 3 Re Cap
In set 3, Alberta took its only lead of the entire match when Brad Bell got a kill on the Bears' first play of the set. However, as was the case in the first two sets, the #1 seed got to the first technical with an 8-4 lead after Cardinal hit one off the antennae. Dave Texeira stuff blocked an Alberta attacker on the first point after the technical and the finish looked to be a foregone conclusion when the Herd went ahead 12-7. However, to the Bears' credit they fought back like a true champion narrowing the gap to 12-10 forcing Garth Pischke to call time-out. At 15-13, Pete Turpin stuffed Leo Carroll in the middle to get the Herd to the second technical up 16-13. After that Tim Cooper hit one off the block and Texeira and Mike Munday stuffed another Alberta attack prompting Alberta Head Coach Richard Schick to call his second and last time-out of the set at 18-14. From that point on it was all academic as the teams went back and forth trading points. With Manitoba at match point, Munday went outside to second year power hitter Josh Klassen who was more than equal to the task blowing one through the Alberta block to clinch the Championship for Manitoba.

Tournament MVP
Mike Munday

Tournament All-Stars
Peter Turpin-Manitoba
Pascal Cardinal-Alberta
Brad Bell-Alberta
Adam Ens-Saskatchewan
Daniel Roth-Saskatchewan
Denis Zhukov-Calgary
Josh Binstock-Toronto

RW Pugh Fair Play Award
Andrew Lockhert-Saskatchewan