Graham Vigrass

Graham Saxton Vigrass (born 17 June 1989) is a Canadian male volleyball player. He is a member of the Canadian men's national volleyball team. He was a participant in the 2016 Summer Olympics,[1] and a bronze medallist at the 2015 Pan American Games.

Graham Vigrass
Personal information
Full nameGraham Saxton Vigrass
Nationality Canada
Born (1989-06-17) June 17, 1989
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
HometownCalgary, Alberta
Height2.05 m (6 ft 9 in)
Weight97 kg (214 lb)
Spike358 cm (141 in)
College(s)University of Calgary
Volleyball information
PositionMiddle blocker
Career
YearsTeams
2007–2012
2013–2014
2014–2015
2015–2016
2016–2018
2018–2019
2019–2020		 Calgary Dinos
Arago de Sète
Étoile Sportive du Sahel
Arkas Spor
Berlin Volleys
ONICO Warsaw
Jastrzębski Węgiel
National team
2008–2009
2012–		 Canada U21
Canada
Honours
Men's volleyball
Representing  Canada
FIVB World League
2017 CuritibaTeam
NORCECA Championship
2013 Canada
Pan American Games
2015 Toronto Team

Personal life

Graham was born in Calgary, Alberta to parents Richard and Sandy Vigrass. His uncle, Don Saxton, played on the Canadian indoor volleyball team at the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympics, and his cousin, Ben Saxton, played beach volleyball at the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics. Graham 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

Graham played post-secondary volleyball with the University of Calgary Dinos. His time there was highlighted by leading the team to win the 2010 CIS (U Sports) National Championship, in addition to being named CIS Championship MVP in 2010 and CIS Men's volleyball player of the year in 2011.[2] Graham 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 win the Tunisian Volleyball Cup in 2015, before joining up with national team coach Glenn Hoag at Arkas Spor for the 2015-16 season. In 2016, Graham joined Berlin Volleys, teaming up with national teammate Steven Marshall.[3] In 2018, he joined team ONICO Warszawa and joined national teammate Sharone Vernon-Evans and former national team coach Stephane Antiga. In 2019, he joined Jastrzębski Węgiel.

National Team

Graham 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. Graham joined the senior national "B" team in 2010, before becoming a full national team member in 2012. 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 bronze at the 2015 Pan American Games. He also helped the national team finish tied for 5th at the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics and helped the team qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics.[4]

Sporting Achievements

University and Professional

National Team

Individual

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. "Unser Team". Berlin Recycling Volleys. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
  4. "Graham Vigrass". Olympic.ca. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
Awards
Preceded by
Maurício Souza
Srećko Lisinac		 Best Middle Blocker of
FIVB World League
2017
ex aequo Kévin Le Roux		 Succeeded by
Replaced by FIVB Nations League
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