Feb. 20 - The Bison men's volleyball team won a huge series tonight at the Investor's Group Athletic Centre to take them to the Canada West Final Four at University of Saskatchewan. They will play #1 Alberta on Friday, February 25.

In the opening set of the evening, the Bisons completely overpowered the Thunderbirds. The Herd jumped to an 8-3 lead and never looked back. The Herd had some amazing attacks, huge stuff blocks and were completely focused the entire first set. The Herd easily took the first set away from UBC 25-13.

Set two was a closer match, but the Bisons were not about to roll over. The Bisons lead the set until point 11, when the Tbirds tied the score. UBC held the slim lead to the second technical time out at 16-13. The Bisons battle back to tie the score at 20 and then control the balance of the match to take game two by a slim 25-23 margin.

The final set of the evening was much like the first. The Bisons control play at the net and find every open space on the Tbirds side of the court to take an 8-4 lead into the first time out. UBC seemed to be having some trouble with their service and attacks, which allowed the Bison to add to their lead and the Herd goes into the second technical time out leading 16-6. It was all a matter of formality after that, as the Bisons continue to play a textbook game and take the third and final set 25-14.

The player of note for the second straight evening was Matt Balchin with 18 kills, 24 attacks and 4 digs. The player of note for the Thunderbirds, also for the second straight evening, is Geoff Emslie with 10 kills, 22 attacks and 7 digs.

With the victory over UBC, the Bisons clinch a berth into the CIS National Championships being held from March 4-6 at the University of Laval. This is head coach Garth Pischke's 24 trip to the Nationals out of his last 25 years of coaching for the Bisons.

Complete statistics...