Graham Vigrass

Last updated
Graham Vigrass
Personal information
Full nameGraham Saxton Vigrass
Born (1989-06-17) 17 June 1989 (age 35)
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Height2.05 m (6 ft 9 in)
College / University University of Calgary
Volleyball information
PositionMiddle blocker
Career
YearsTeams
2007–2012
2013–2014
2014–2015
2015–2016
2016–2018
2018–2019
2019–2020
2020–2021
2021–2022
2023-2024		 Calgary Dinos
Arago de Sète
Étoile Sportive du Sahel V.C.
Arkas İzmir
Berlin Recycling Volleys
Onico Warsaw
Jastrzębski Węgiel
Fenerbahçe İstanbul
Halkbank Ankara
Club Voleibol Guaguas
National team
2012–2022Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada
Honours
Men's volleyball
Representing Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada
FIVB World League
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2017 Curitiba
Pan American Games
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2015 Toronto

Graham Saxton Vigrass (born 17 June 1989) is a former Canadian professional volleyball player. As a member of the Canadian men's national volleyball team, he was a participant at two Olympic Games (Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020) and a bronze medallist at the 2017 World League. [1] He is currently the head coach of the University of Calgary Dinos men's volleyball team.

Contents

Personal life

Vigrass was born in Calgary, Alberta to parents Richard and Sandy Vigrass. His uncle, Don Saxton, played on the Canadian men's national volleyball team at the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympics, and his cousin, Ben Saxton, played beach volleyball at the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics. Vigrass started playing volleyball at the age of 13, and played in Calgary for the Canuck Volleyball Club and Western Canada High School during his high school years.

Career

University

Vigrass played U Sports men's volleyball with the University of Calgary Dinos for five seasons from 2007 to 2012. His time there was highlighted by leading the team to win the 2010 CIS Men's Volleyball Championship where he was also named the CIS Championship MVP. [2] During the following season, as defending champions, the Dinos finished with a bronze medal in the 2011 CIS championship and Vigrass was named the CIS Men's volleyball player of the year and the Canada West representative at the Canadian University Athletes of the Year Awards for the top male university athlete in Canada. [3] [4]

Professional

Vigrass spent the 2012-13 season at the Team Canada National Excellence Program (NEP), formerly the Full Time Training Center (FTC), at the Centre Sportif in Gatineau, Canada, before signing in 2013 with Arago de Sète in Sete, France. He helped Étoile Sportive du Sahel V.C. win the Tunisian Volleyball Cup in 2015, before joining up with national team coach Glenn Hoag at Arkas Spor for the 2015-16 season, where they won bronze in the championship of the Turkish Men's Volleyball League. In 2016, Vigrass joined Berlin Recycling Volleys, teaming up with national teammate Steven Marshall, to win gold in the championship of the Deutsche Volleyball-Bundesliga, and again in 2017/2018, also placing 4th at the championship of the CEV Champions League. [5] In 2018, he joined team Onica Warsaw and joined national teammate Sharone Vernon-Evans and former national team coach Stephane Antiga, where they won silver in the championship of the Polish PlusLiga. In 2019, he joined Jastrzębski Węgiel. In 2020, he, and national teammate Nicholas Hoag, helped Fenerbahçe İstanbul become Turkish Men's Volleyball Super Cup champions. In 2021, Vigrass joined Halkbank Ankara and won silver in the CEV Challenge Cup. After a one season hiatus away from the court, he returned to play for Club Voleibol Guaguas in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain in 2023. While there, the team set a club record by advancing to the quarterfinals of the Champion's League. The team also won golds in the championship of the Spanish Superliga, Spanish Supercup, the Iberian Cup and the King's Cup. Vigrass retired as a player in 2024.

National Team

Vigrass first joined the national team program in 2008 as a member of Canada men's junior national volleyball team. He helped the team win silver at the 2008 Men's Junior NORCECA Volleyball Championship, and qualify for the 2009 FIVB Volleyball Men's U21 World Championship. Vigrass joined the senior national "B" team in 2010, helping them reach 4th at the 2011 Summer Universiade, before becoming a senior national team member in 2012. His success over ten years with the senior team resulted in the achievement of 5 team records and the tying of two previous team records. He was a member of the squad that finished tied for 7th place at the 2014 FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship, and helped the team win gold at the NORCECA Championship, his first two team records, and bronze at the 2015 Pan American Games, tying a previous team record. He was also on the team that finished in 7th place at the 2015 Men's World Cup, tying another team record. His next team record was as a member of the squad that won bronze at the 2017 FIVB Volleyball World League. He also helped the national team finish tied for 5th at the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics and finish eighth at the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics. This set two team records, one by qualifying for consecutive Summer Olympics and one by qualifying for consecutive quarter finals at the Summer Olympics. [6] [7] Vigrass retired from the national team as a player in 2022.

Honours

University

Professional

National Team

Individual awards

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References

  1. ↑ Hossain, Asif (22 July 2016). "Canada's men's volleyball team ready for Rio after long Olympic absence". Canadian Olympic Committee . Retrieved 22 July 2016.
  2. ↑ "Graham Vigrass". Olympic.ca. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
  3. ↑ "Dinos player nominated for top university athlete award". Calgary Herald. 20 April 2011. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  4. ↑ "Of the Year" (PDF). U Sports . Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  5. ↑ "Unser Team". Berlin Recycling Volleys. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
  6. ↑ "Graham Vigrass". Olympic.ca. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
  7. ↑ Awad, Brandi (30 June 2021). "Team Canada's men's volleyball squad set for Tokyo 2020". Canadian Olympic Committee . Retrieved 30 June 2021.
Awards
Preceded by Best Middle Blocker of
FIVB World League
2017
ex aequo Flag of France.svg Kévin Le Roux 		Succeeded by
Replaced by FIVB Nations League
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