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] The 2020 championship tournament and the entire 2020–21 season were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[11][12]
Season structure
Exhibition season
To prepare for the season, teams will typically play a series of exhibition games against conference and non-conference opponents.[13][14] These games are usually played in September and/or October before the regular season and in December and/or January during the holiday break.[15][16]
As of the 2023-24 season, the RSEQ begin their season first, on the second Friday of October.[17] The Canada West conference begins play one week later and the AUS and OUA schedules begin on the fourth Friday of October.[13][14][18] All regular season games are in-conference and the schedule ends in approximately mid-February.[13]
The AUS conference features six teams that play four games against each opponent for a total of 20 regular season games.[14] In the RSEQ, eight teams play 21 conference games for a total of three games against each opponent.[17] In Canada West, there are 14 teams in one conference that play against ten other opponents resulting in 20 total games played.[19] The OUA features 15 teams in one conference after previously having teams split in an east and west division.[13][20] OUA teams play two games against 10 different opponents, leaving four teams as non-combatants for each team's schedule.[20] For the OUA and Canada West conferences, teams will usually play the same opponent twice in one weekend for ease of travel and scheduling.[13][18]
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.[21] 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.[22]
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.[17][23] In Canada West, the top eight teams qualify for the playoffs and play best-of-three series in playoff brackets in the quarterfinals.[24] 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.[24]
The OUA is the only conference that features a single elimination format in all playoff games.[20] Teams are seeded one through eight and advance to the semi-finals in a bracket format with the higher-seeded team hosting each game.[20] The highest-seeded remaining team hosts the conference championship, the Quigley Cup.[20]
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.[25] 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.[25] The UBC Thunderbirds have won the most championships with 14 gold medals won, followed by the eight titles won by the Manitoba Bisons.[8] The national championship has historically been dominated by the Canada West conference with those teams winning 44 of the 53 championship matches as of the 2024-25 season.[8] The 2020 and 2021 championship tournaments were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[11]
Teams
Membership
There were 43 teams that had participated in the 2024–25 Women's volleyball season.[26][27] 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.[28][29] 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.[30][31][32] The UQTR Patriotes are playing in the RSEQ Division 1 as of the 2021-22 season after playing in the conference's Division 2.[33] After becoming the 57th member of U Sports, the UQAC Inuk fielded a women's volleyball team beginning in 2023.[34] The ETS Piranhas became a member of U Sports in 2024 with their women's volleyball team playing the same year.[35] The Ottawa Gee-Gees announced intentions to move from the RSEQ and joined the OUA beginning with the 2024-25 season.[36]
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]
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