T-Birds suffer Canada West semifinal series sweep in Alberta

EDMONTON – With consecutive 3-0 wins over the fourth-seeded UBC Thunderbirds, the top-seeded Alberta Golden Bears swept their semifinal series at home, and have booked a spot in the 2024 Canada West Final. 

Alberta will host the Trinity Western next Friday night in the Main Gym on UofA Campus, marking the fourth-straight final matchup between the Bears and Spartans, and 10th time since 2005. 

UBC will host the Winnipeg Wesmen next weekend in Vancouver, with the winner earning a CW bronze medal, and a spot at nationals in Kingston. 

Isaac Heslinga led offence once again for the hosts, scoring a match-high 17 kills. Liam Espedido added nine kills, with Sam Drybrough adding a match-high 34 assists. 

“It was a bit of revenge for is this weekend, after losing twice to this team a few weeks ago here at home,” said Espedido. “We were determined and motivated, and came through. Our competitive philosophy won’t change next week, and we will still prepare the same regardless of the opponent. We will still try and come out with the same energy and presence.” 

Missing a large chunk of their starting six that led them to a 16-8 conference record, UBC struggled to keep pace with the Golden Bears. Conaire Taub led the visitors with 11 kills on just 20 attempts, with Gavin Moes and Dawson Pratt adding six kills each. 

Alberta finished with a 39-30 kill advantage in the Game 2 win, and a .392 to .278 attack percentage gap. As they did in Game 1, the Bears also dominated from the service line, scoring 12 aces to the Thunderbirds one. 

Heslinga and Moes matched each other in an extremely tight and entertaining first set, which eventually went to Alberta 27-25. The pair of outside hitters finished the first set with five kills each, with back-to-back Heslinga kills at 25-25 giving the Bears the opening-set win. 

Losing the tight opening set seemed to take the wind out of UBC’s sails for the rest of the match. The Alberta offence was unstoppable in the second, recording a kill on 13 of their 23 attempts to go along with five aces. The T-Birds were unable to match, scoring just 11 kills, to go along with four attack errors and two service errors. 

Alberta secured the semifinal sweep with an efficient third set, thanks to seven kills from Heslinga, three aces and three blocks. 

The Thunderbirds will host the Wesmen next Saturday March 9 for the Canada West bronze medal match at 7:00 p.m. PT. at War Memorial Gym.