The U Sports Women's Volleyball Championship is a Canadian university volleyball tournament conducted by U Sports, and determines the women's national champion. The tournament involves the champions from each of Canada's four regional sports conferences. The championship trophy, first awarded in 1977, features a two-wheeled oxcart, symbolizing the pioneer era on the Red River in Manitoba. The 2026 champions are the Alberta Pandas and the UBC Thunderbirds have won the most championships with a total of 14, including six in a row from 2008 to 2013.

History

While intercollegiate volleyball had been played in Canada since 1947, championships had been played for conference titles only. In 1969, the Canadian Women's Interuniversity Athletic Union (CWIAU) was formed (a precursor to today's U Sports organization) to provide a regulatory body for national competition. For the 1969–1970 season, the Calgary Dinos were named the first unofficial champions. The first official champions were the Manitoba Bisonettes, who were crowned following the 1970–1971 season after they defeated the Toronto Varsity Blues in four sets. While full historical championship results are not readily available, the championship was initially a round-robin tournament where the teams with the best records would then play for the championship. This was changed for the 1983 championship when the tournament changed to single-elimination. The 2020 and 2021 championship tournaments were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Format The championship currently consists of an eight-team tournament, with champions from each of the four conferences, one host, an additional OUA team, and two additional Canada West teams. While the berths for the conference champions and host remain consistent year-to-year, the other three invitees can change based on the host's conference and the competitive landscape in U Sports. The championship takes place over three days and features 11 games, with teams seeded 1–8. Teams are ranked by a committee as well as by the ELO ranking used to determine weekly Top 10 rankings nationally. Conference champions can be ranked no lower than 6th place. The team ranked 1st plays the 8th ranked team, 2nd plays 7th, 3rd plays 6th, and 4th plays 5th in the quarter-finals. To ensure common rest times, teams are not re-seeded after the first round, so the winner of 1v8 plays the winner of 4v5 and the winner of 2v7 plays the winner of 3v6. There is also a consolation bracket to determine the third-place winner (bronze medalist) and fifth-place winner. The gold medal game is the last game played in the tournament.

Results Round Robin Format (1971–1982) YearHost(City)Championship finalTeamsChampionsScoreRunners-up1971Calgary(Calgary, AB)Manitoba Bisonettes3–1Toronto Varsity Blues41972Laurentian(Sudbury, ON)Western Ontario Mustangs3–1Dalhousie TigersN/A 1973Acadia(Wolfville, NS)UBC Thunderettes3–1Western Ontario MustangsN/A1974British Columbia(Vancouver, BC)UBC Thunderettes (2)3–2Western Ontario Mustangs (2)51975Laval(Quebec City, QC)Western Ontario Mustangs (2)3–0Saskatchewan HuskiettesN/A1976Manitoba/Winnipeg(Winnipeg, MB)Western Ontario Mustangs (3)3–1UBC Thunderettes51977Waterloo(Waterloo, ON)UBC Thunderettes (3)3–0Western Ontario Mustangs (3)51978Moncton(Moncton, NB)UBC Thunderettes (4)3–1Western Ontario Mustangs (4)61979McMaster(Hamilton, ON)Saskatchewan Huskiettes3–1York YeowomenN/A1980Saskatchewan(Saskatoon, SK)Saskatchewan Huskiettes (2)3–1Ottawa Gee-Gees61981Victoria(Victoria, BC)Saskatchewan Huskiettes (3)3–1Manitoba Bisons61982 Dalhousie(Halifax, NS)Dalhousie Tigers3–2Calgary Dinosaurs6

Single Elimination Format (1983–present) YearHost(City)Gold medal matchBronze medal matchTeamsGold medalistsScoreSilver medalistsBronze medalistsScore4th place1983British Columbia(Vancouver, BC)Winnipeg Wesmen3–0Calgary Dinosaurs (2)UBC Thunderbirds3–2Laval Rouge et Or81984Laval(Quebec City, QC)Winnipeg Wesmen (2)3–2Dalhousie Tigers (2)York Yeowomen3–2Laval Rouge et Or81985York(North York, ON)Winnipeg Wesmen (3)3–1Calgary Dinosaurs (3)York Yeowomen (2)3–2Saskatchewan Huskiettes81986Moncton(Moncton, NB)Winnipeg Wesmen (4)3–2Manitoba Bisons (2)Sherbrooke Vert et Or3–0Laval Rouge et Or81987Winnipeg(Winnipeg, MB)Winnipeg Wesmen (5)3–0Manitoba Bisons (3)Laval Rouge et Or 3–1Victoria Vikettes81988Sherbrooke(Sherbrooke, QC)Winnipeg Wesmen (6)3–0Sherbrooke Vert et OrLaval Rouge et Or (2)3–1Calgary Dinosaurs81989Saskatchewan(Saskatoon, SK)Calgary Dinosaurs3–0Victoria VikettesLaval Rouge et Or (3)3–2Winnipeg Wesmen81990Windsor(Windsor, ON)Manitoba Bisons (2)3–2Victoria Vikettes (2)York Yeowomen (3)3–2Regina Cougars81991Calgary(Calgary, AB)Manitoba Bisons (3)3–1Saskatchewan Huskies (2)York Yeowomen (4)3–2Winnipeg Wesmen (2)81992York(North York, ON)Manitoba Bisons (4)3–1Winnipeg WesmenCalgary Dinosaurs3–1York Yeowomen81993Laval(Quebec City, QC)Winnipeg Wesmen (7)3–0Alberta PandasManitoba Bisons3–1Calgary Dinosaurs (2)81994Winnipeg(Winnipeg, MB)Calgary Dinosaurs (2)3–0Winnipeg Wesmen (2)Manitoba Bisons (2)3–1Montréal Carabins81995Alberta(Edmonton, AB)Alberta Pandas3–1Laval Rouge et OrManitoba Bisons (3)3–1Winnipeg Wesmen81996Toronto(Toronto, ON)Alberta Pandas (2)3–1Laval Rouge et Or (2)UBC Thunderbirds (2)3–1Winnipeg Wesmen81997Alberta(Edmonton, AB)Alberta Pandas (3)3–2UBC Thunderbirds (2)Laval Rouge et Or (4)3–0Manitoba Bisons81998Alberta(Edmonton, AB)Alberta Pandas (4)3–1Manitoba Bisons (4)Laval Rouge et Or (5)3–2UBC Thunderbirds81999Alberta(Edmonton, AB)Alberta Pandas (5)3–1UBC Thunderbirds (3)Manitoba Bisons (4)3–0Laval Rouge et Or82000Winnipeg(Winnipeg, MB)Alberta Pandas (6)3–2Manitoba Bisons (5)UBC Thunderbirds (3)3–1Montréal Carabins82001Manitoba(Winnipeg, MB)Manitoba Bisons (5)3–1Sherbrooke Vert et Or (2)Laval Rouge et Or (6)3–0Toronto Varsity Blues82002Laval(Quebec City, QC)Manitoba Bisons (6)3–1Calgary Dinos (4)UBC Thunderbirds (4)3–0Sherbrooke Vert et Or82003Laval(Quebec City, QC)Sherbrooke Vert et Or3–1Winnipeg Wesmen (3)Alberta Pandas3–1Calgary Dinos82004Saskatchewan(Saskatoon, SK)Calgary Dinos (3)3–1Alberta Pandas (2)Laval Rouge et Or (7)3–0UBC Thunderbirds82005Saskatchewan(Saskatoon, SK)Sherbrooke Vert et Or (2)3–0UBC Thunderbirds (4)Calgary Dinos (2)3–1Alberta Pandas82006DetailsCalgary(Calgary, AB)Laval Rouge et Or3–1UBC Thunderbirds (5)Calgary Dinos (3)3–2Montréal Carabins82007DetailsCalgary(Calgary, AB)Alberta Pandas (7)3–1Laval Rouge et Or (3)Calgary Dinos (4)3–0Trinity Western Spartans82008DetailsNew Brunswick(Fredericton, NB)UBC Thunderbirds (5)3–2Montreal CarabinsCalgary Dinos (5)3–2Alberta Pandas82009DetailsNew Brunswick(Fredericton, NB)UBC Thunderbirds (6)3–2Calgary Dinos (5)Montréal Carabins3–2Laval Rouge et Or82010DetailsAlberta(Edmonton, AB)UBC Thunderbirds (7)3–1Manitoba Bisons (6)Laval Rouge et Or (8)3–1Alberta Pandas82011DetailsLaval(Quebec City, QC)UBC Thunderbirds (8)3–0Laval Rouge et Or (4)Trinity Western Spartans3–1Alberta Pandas82012DetailsMcMaster(Hamilton, ON)UBC Thunderbirds (9)3–2Alberta Pandas (3)McGill Martlets3–1Montréal Carabins82013DetailsSherbrooke(Sherbrooke, QC)UBC Thunderbirds (10)3–0Alberta Pandas (4)Trinity Western Spartans (2)3–0Ottawa Gee-Gees82014DetailsRegina(Regina, SK)Manitoba Bisons (7)3–0UBC Thunderbirds (6)Laval Rouge et Or (9)3–1Dalhousie Tigers82015DetailsToronto(Toronto, ON)Trinity Western Spartans3–2Alberta Pandas (5)Montréal Carabins (2)3–2Toronto Varsity Blues82016DetailsBrandon(Brandon, MB)Toronto Varsity Blues3–0Trinity Western SpartansUBC Okanagan Heat3–0UBC Thunderbirds82017DetailsRyerson(Toronto, ON)UBC Thunderbirds (11)3–1Alberta Pandas (6)Trinity Western Spartans (3)3–2Montréal Carabins82018DetailsLaval(Quebec City, QC)Ryerson Rams3–1Alberta Pandas (7)UBC Thunderbirds (5)3–1Calgary Dinos82019DetailsAlberta(Edmonton, AB)UBC Thunderbirds (12)3–2Ryerson RamsAlberta Pandas (2)3–2Dalhousie Tigers82020DetailsCalgary(Calgary, AB)Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemicCancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic82021DetailsBritish Columbia(Vancouver, BC)Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemicCancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic82022DetailsCalgary(Calgary, AB)Trinity Western Spartans (2)3–1Mount Royal CougarsAlberta Pandas (3)3–0McGill Martlets82023DetailsBritish Columbia(Vancouver, BC)UBC Thunderbirds (13)3–2Trinity Western Spartans (2)Dalhousie Tigers3–2Manitoba Bisons82024DetailsMcMaster(Hamilton, ON)UBC Thunderbirds (14)3–1Alberta Pandas (8)Manitoba Bisons (5)3–0Acadia Axewomen82025DetailsManitoba(Winnipeg, MB)Manitoba Bisons (8)3–1Montréal Carabins (2)Alberta Pandas (4)3–1UBC Thunderbirds82026DetailsTrinity Western(Langley, BC)Alberta Pandas (8)3–0Sherbrooke Vert et Or (3)Brock Badgers3–2Trinity Western Spartans82027DetailsToronto(Toronto, ON)82028DetailsMount Royal(Calgary, AB)8

Results by schools The following table includes all known first, second, and third-place finishes, as indicated above. Prior to 1983, there were no third-place finishes, and the second-place finish was the loser of the championship game.

Team Conference 1st 2nd 3rd UBC Thunderbirds Canada West 14 6 5 2024 Manitoba Bisons Canada West 8 6 5 2025 Alberta Pandas Canada West 8 8 4 2026 Winnipeg Wesmen Canada West 7 3 0 1993 Calgary Dinos Canada West 3 5 5 2004 Western Ontario Mustangs OUA 3 4 0 1976 Saskatchewan Huskies Canada West 3 2 0 1981 Sherbrooke Vert et Or RSEQ 2 3 1 2005 Trinity Western Spartans Canada West 2 2 3 2022 Laval Rouge et Or RSEQ 1 4 9 2006 Dalhousie Tigers AUS 1 2 1 1982 Toronto Varsity Blues OUA 1 1 0 2016 Ryerson Rams OUA 1 1 0 2018 Victoria Vikes/Vikettes Canada West 0 2 0 None York Lions/Yeowomen OUA 0 1 4 None Montreal Carabins RSEQ 0 2 2 None Ottawa Gee-Gees OUA 0 1 0 None Mount Royal Cougars Canada West 0 1 0 None McGill Martlets RSEQ 0 0 1 None UBC Okanagan Heat Canada West 0 0 1 None Brock Badgers OUA 0 0 1 None

See also

NCAA Division I women's volleyball tournament

External links U Sports Women's Volleyball Championship

References