Carabins Looking For CIS Title
The Montreal Carabins travel to Fredericton this week looking to capture the first CIS women’s volleyball title in team history, and hoping to erase the painful memories of a heartbreaking defeat.
A year ago, Montreal had its best-ever finish at the CIS championship, reaching the gold-medal match for the first time in program history. But the Carabins left Fredericton thinking what might have been as they let a two-set-to-one lead slip away in the national final against UBC and failed to convert on three championship points in the fifth and decisive set, which the Thunderbirds finally won 20-18.
Twelve months later, the Carabins are back in New Brunswick’s capital, more ready than ever to claim that elusive CIS banner.
The eight-team, single-elimination national championship, held at the University of New Brunswick’s Aitken Centre for the second straight year, gets under way Thursday with the quarterfinal round and concludes Saturday at 7 p.m. Atlantic Time with the presentation of the gold-medal final (Rogers TV local).
Joining the top-seeded and Quebec conference champion Carabins at the CIS tournament are the No. 2 and defending national champion UBC Thunderbirds (Canada West champions), No. 3 Trinity Western Spartans (Canada West finalists), No. 4 Calgary Dinos (Canada West bronze medallists), No. 5 York Lions (OUA champions), No. 6 Laval Rouge et Or (QSSF champions), No. 7 Moncton Aigles Bleues (AUS champions), and the host and No. 8 UNB Varsity Reds (AUS finalists).
Championship web site: www.cisport.ca/e/championships/w_volleyball/2009
