The seeding was announced Monday for the 2013 tourney, presented by Asics, which gets under way on Thursday in Sherbrooke, Que. The eight-team competition concludes on Saturday with the gold-medal final at 4 p.m.
All 11 matches will be webcast live on www.CIS-SIC.tv.
Rounding out the seeding are the No. 2 Montreal Carabins (RSEQ champions), No. 3 Ottawa Gee-Gees (OUA champs), No. 4 Trinity Western Spartans (Canada West finalists), No. 5 Dalhousie Tigers (AUS champs), No. 6 and host Sherbrooke Vert & Or (RSEQ finalists), No. 7 Alberta Pandas (Canada West bronze medallists) and No. 8 Laval Rouge et Or (RSEQ bronze medallists).
The Thunderbirds, who secured their No. 1 status with a four-set win over TWU in Saturday's Canada West final, hope to enter the record books later this week. With a sixth consecutive national title, they would tie the all-time mark set by Winnipeg from 1983 to 1988 and equaled a decade later by Alberta (1995-2000).
Interestingly enough, 1988 marked the only previous staging of the CIS women's volleyball championship at Université de Sherbrooke.
The T-Birds, who already hold the all-time record for most CIS banners overall (9), open their title defence Thursday at 3 p.m. against Laval in the second quarter-final duel of opening day.
Other first-round match-ups include Dalhousie vs. Trinity Western at 1 p.m., Alberta vs. Montreal at 6 p.m. and Sherbrooke vs. Ottawa at 8 p.m.
In addition to UBC and Alberta (7), Sherbrooke (2), Dalhousie (1) and Laval (1) have also claimed the championship trophy in the past, while Montreal, Ottawa and Trinity Western are still looking for that elusive first title.
NOTE: A complete championship preview will follow on Tuesday.
CHAMPIONSHIP WEBSITE: http://english.cis-sic.ca/championships/wvball/index
SEEDING
1. UBC Thunderbirds (CWUAA champions: 21-1 regular season / 2-0 playoffs)
2. Montreal Carabins (RSEQ champions: 14-6 regular season / 4-1 playoffs)
3. Ottawa Gee-Gees (OUA champions: 16-2 regular season / 3-0 playoffs)
4. Trinity Western Spartans (CWUAA finalists: 19-3 regular season / 3-1 playoffs)
5. Dalhousie Tigers (AUS champions: 16-2 regular season / 2-0 playoffs)
6. Sherbrooke Vert & Or (RSEQ finalists: 15-5 regular season / 0-2 playoffs)
7. Alberta Pandas (CWUAA bronze medallists: 15-7 regular season / 3-1 playoffs)
8. Laval Rouge et Or (RSEQ bronze medallists: 15-5 regular season / 1-2 playoffs)
CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE
Wednesday, February 27
17:30 All-Canadian Awards Banquet (Delta Hotel)
Thursday, February 28
13:00 Quarter-final #1: No. 5 Dalhousie vs. No. 4 Trinity Western (www.CIS-SIC.tv)
15:00 Quarter-final #2: No. 8 Laval vs. No. 1 UBC (www.CIS-SIC.tv)
18:00 Quarter-final #3: No. 7 Alberta vs. No. 2 Montréal (www.CIS-SIC.tv)
20:00 Quarter-final #4: No. 6 Sherbrooke vs. No. 3 Ottawa (www.CIS-SIC.tv)
Friday, March 1
13:00 Consolation #1: Loser quarter-final #1 vs. Loser quarter-final #2 (www.CIS-SIC.tv)
15:00 Consolation #2: Loser quarter-final #3 vs. Loser quarter-final #4 (www.CIS-SIC.tv)
18:00 Semifinal #1: Winner quarter-final #1 vs. Winner quarter-final #2 (www.CIS-SIC.tv)
20:00 Semifinal #2: Winner quarter-final #3 vs. Winner quarter-final #4 (www.CIS-SIC.tv)
Saturday, March 2
11:00 5th place (www.CIS-SIC.tv)
13:00 Bronze medal (www.CIS-SIC.tv)
16:00 Championship final (www.CIS-SIC.tv)
About Canadian Interuniversity Sport
Canadian Interuniversity Sport is the national governing body of university sport in Canada. Every year, 11,000 student-athletes and 700 coaches from 54 universities and four regional associations vie for 21 national championships in 12 different sports. CIS also provides high performance international opportunities for Canadian student-athletes at Winter and Summer Universiades, as well as numerous world university championships. For further information, visit www.cis-sic.ca or follow us on:
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