U Sports women's volleyball

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U Sports women's volleyball
200px
Formerly CWIAU Volleyball
CIAU Volleyball
CIS Volleyball
Sport Volleyball
Founded 1969
No. of teams 40, in four conferences
Country Canada
Most recent champion(s) UBC Thunderbirds (2019)
Most titles UBC Thunderbirds (12)[1]
Related competitions U Sports Volleyball Championship
Official website usports.ca/en/sports/volleyball/f

U Sports women's volleyball is the highest level of amateur play of indoor volleyball in Canada and operates under the auspices of U Sports (formerly Canadian Interuniversity Sport). Forty teams from Canadian universities are divided into four athletic conferences, drawing from the four regional associations of U Sports: Canada West Universities Athletic Association (CW), Ontario University Athletics (OUA), Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ), and Atlantic University Sport (AUS). Following intra-conference playoffs, eight teams are selected to play in a national tournament to compete for the U Sports women's volleyball championship.

Brief history

Organized university volleyball was first played in Ontario in the 1947-48 school year between the Toronto Varsity Blues and the McMaster Marauders where the two teams finished tied for the championship title.[2] Toronto would win the 1948-49 title in the following year. In the Western Canada Intercollegiate Athletic Union (WCIAU), the Saskatchewan Huskies were named the first champions in Western Canada for the 1949-50 season.[3][4] In 1950-51, volleyball was admitted as a sport into the Women’s Intercollegiate Athletic Union (WIAU) with Toronto, McMaster, Western, and OAC becoming the first four programs to compete in an Ontario league.[2] For the 1952-93 season, McGill and Queen's joined competition in the WIAU.[2] The Atlantic Intercollegiate Athletic Association (AIAA) began awarding championships for volleyball for the 1959-60 season which was won by the UNB Reds.[5]

In 1969, the Canadian Women’s Interuniversity Athletic Union (CWIAU) was formed to provide a national governing body for women's varsity sport in Canada.[2][6] In December 1969, the WCIAU proposed by that national championships should be established, which was accepted by the CWIAU.[7] Because this was accepted in the middle of the school year, an unofficial national championship was held at the University of Waterloo and won by the Calgary Dinos in the spring of 1970.[7][8] The first official championship was awarded following the 1970-71 season and was won by the Manitoba Bisonettes over the Toronto Varsity Blues in a match that was decided in four sets.[9]

Beginning with the 1972-73 season, the Manitoba Bisons, Winnipeg Wesmen, and Regina Cougars played in the separate Great Plains Athletic Association (later renamed Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC)) while the Saskatchewan Huskies and 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.[10]

Season structure

Exhibition season

To prepare for the season, teams will typically play a series of exhibition games against conference and non-conference opponents.[11][12] These games are usually played in September and/or October before the regular season and in December and/or January during the holiday break.[13][14]

File:2020 Volleyball, York Lions vs Toronto Varsity Blues 01.jpg
The York Lions hosting the Toronto Varsity Blues in 2020.

Regular season

As of the 2019-20 season, the Canada West, OUA, and RSEQ regular seasons begin on the third weekend of October. The AUS schedule begins one week later. All regular season games are in-conference and the schedule ends in approximately mid-February.[15][16]

Both the AUS and RSEQ conferences feature six teams that play four games against each opponent (twice home and twice away) for a total of 20 regular season games.[12][16] In Canada West, there were 13 teams in one conference that play home and home matches against every opponent resulting in 24 total games played.[15] However, this format will change with the addition of the UFV Cascades beginning play for the 2020-21 season.[17] In the OUA, the 14 teams are divided evenly into a West and an East division with six home-and-home matches played within their divisions and seven matches played against inter-divisional opponents for a total of 19 regular season games played.[11][18] For the AUS and Cananda West conferences, teams will usually play the same opponent twice in one weekend for ease of travel and scheduling.

Following the conclusion of the regular season, the Mary Lyons Award is awarded annually to the Player of the Year in U Sports women's volleyball.[19] The Mark Tennant Award is given to the Rookie of the Year and the Thérèse Quigley 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.[20]

File:Lisa-Barclay.jpg
UBC's Lisa Barclay won the 2014 Mary Lyons Award and three national championships.

Playoffs

After the regular season, playoff games and series are held between the top teams in each conference to determine conference champions. In the AUS and RSEQ conferences, the top four teams qualify for the playoffs and play a best-of-three series including in the conference championship.[16][21] In Canada West, the top eight teams qualify for the playoffs and play best-of-three series in playoff brackets in the quarterfinals.[22] 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.[22]

The OUA is the only conference that features a single elimination format in all playoff games.[18] 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).[18] The winners of these games play semi-final games at the site of the highest remaining seed over one weekend. The conference bronze medal game and gold medal game (Quigley Cup) are played at the same site on the same weekend.

National championship

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Main article: U Sports Women's Volleyball Championship

The U Sports women's volleyball championship was officially established in 1971 following the organization of the Canadian Women’s Interuniversity Athletic Union (CWIAU).[2][8] 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.[23] The host team is automatically qualified for the tournament, as are each of the conference champions. Three other teams are entered based on the strength of their conferences and their post-season finishes.[23] The UBC Thunderbirds have won the most championships with 12 gold medals won, followed by the seven titles won by each of the Alberta Pandas, Manitoba Bisons, and Winnipeg Wesmen.[8] The national championship has historically been dominated by the Canada West conference with those teams winning 40 of the 49 championship matches as of the 2019-20 season.[8] The 2020 championship tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[24]

Teams

Membership

There were 39 teams that had participated in the 2019–20 Women's volleyball season. Recently, St. Francis Xavier and Cape Breton previously had programs is the AUS conference, but they were cut due to budgetary reasons in 2013 and 2015, respectively.[25][26] On the opposite side, the Canada West conference has seen a growth in team membership, adding the UBCO Heat in 2011-12, Mount Royal Cougars in 2012-13, MacEwan Griffins in 2014-15, and the UFV Cascades in 2020-21.[17][27][28] 40 teams are scheduled to compete in a 2020-21 season if one is played.[29]

File:U Sports Women'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 16 12
Trinity Western University Spartans Langley BC Langley Events Centre 4 1
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 3
Mount Royal University Cougars Calgary AB Kenyon Court 0 0
University of Alberta Pandas Edmonton AB Saville Community Sports Centre 18 7
MacEwan University Griffins Edmonton AB Dr. David W. Atkinson Gymnasium 0 0
University of Saskatchewan Huskies Saskatoon SK Physical Activity Complex 13 3
University of Regina Cougars Regina SK Centre for Kinesiology, Health & Sport 0 0
University of Brandon Bobcats Brandon MB Healthy Living Centre 0 0
University of Manitoba Bisons Winnipeg MB Investors Group Athletic Centre 6 7
University of Winnipeg Wesmen Winnipeg MB Duckworth Centre 0 7
  • 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
Lakehead University Thunderwolves Thunder Bay ON The Wolf Den 0 0
University of Windsor Lancers Windsor ON St. Denis Centre 1 0
University of Western Ontario Mustangs London ON Alumni Hall 11 3
University of Waterloo Warriors Waterloo ON Physical Activities Complex 0 0
University of Guelph Gryphons Guelph ON Guelph Gryphons Athletic Centre 0 0
McMaster University Marauders Hamilton ON Burridge Gymnasium 3 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 15 0
University of Toronto Varsity Blues Toronto ON Goldring Centre 12 1
Ryerson University Rams Toronto ON Mattamy Athletic Centre 1 1
Trent University Excalibur Peterborough ON Trent Athletics Centre 0 0
Queen's University Gaels Kingston ON Athletics & Recreation Centre 1 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
University of Ottawa Gee-Gees Ottawa ON Montpetit Hall 5 0
Université Laval Rouge et Or Quebec City QC PEPS gymnase 25 1
McGill University Martlets Montreal QC Love Competition Hall 0 0
Université de Montréal Carabins Montreal QC CEPSUM 14 0
Université du Québec à Montréal Citadins Montreal QC Centre sportif UQAM 0 0
Université de Sherbrooke Vert et Or Sherbrooke QC Centre sportif Yvon-Lamarche 9 2
  • Note: The Ottawa Gee-Gees moved from the OUA to the RSEQ starting with the 2016-17 season.[30]

Atlantic University Sport

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University Varsity Name City Province Arena AC NC
Université de Moncton Aigles Bleues Moncton NB CEPS 6 0
University of New Brunswick Reds Fredericton NB Richard J Currie Centre 19 0
Acadia University Axewomen Wolfville NS Stu Aberdeen Court 0 0
Dalhousie University Tigers Halifax NS Dalplex Fieldhouse 25 1
Saint Mary's University Huskies Halifax NS Homburg Centre 6 0
Memorial University of Newfoundland Sea-Hawks St. John's NL The Field House 3 0

References

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External links

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