Bears battle to beat Brandon 3-1 in brilliant bash

EDMONTON – Behind a 13 kill night from second-year Isaac Heslinga the Alberta Golden Bears defeated the Brandon Bobcats 3-1 (25-15, 23-25, 25-18, 25-20) in an exciting contest Friday night at the Saville Centre.

Alberta moves to 4-1 on the young season, good for third place in the Canada West, while the Bobcats slide to 1-4.

Heslinga was joined with an excellent performance from Jordan Canham who had 12 kills to go with seven digs and a block. Brandon saw a phenomenal performance from Tom Friesen, who finished with a team-high 10 kills.

Alberta hopped out to an early lead on the back of their strong attack, with Canham and Heslinga recording multiple kills en route to a 12-5 early Alberta advantage. The Bobcats would regroup and cut the lead to 16-12 at one point, led by three kills from Friesen, but the Bears attack would prove too lethal as Alberta went on an 8-0 run to end the set and win 25-15. Heslinga had a set-high four kills and the Bears had an astonishing five service aces in the set to add to a .529 hitting percentage. The Bobcats were paced by Friesen who also added a block in the frame.

Brandon would regroup and fly out to an early 8-3 lead behind a couple of kills and service aces from Friesen. Great attacking from the Bobcats would maintain their lead for the majority of the set, although the Bears behind an efficient offence orchestrated by setter Cam Kern would continue to chip away at the Brandon advantage. A remarkable Bobcats block line would record three blocks in the set and held Alberta to just a .115 hitting percentage. The exciting set would come to 21-21, where the Bobcats would rip off a 4-2 run for a 25-23 set win. Max Brook would lead the Bobcats with three kills, while Heslinga again paced the Bears with a set-high four.

The third set would continue the excitement as both teams battled back and forth to a 16-15 Alberta advantage mid-set. Tom Friesen continued his good game with three kills to that point, but was bested with four from Golden Bear and non-relative Braedon Friesen. The Bears would finish on an 8-2 run led by Braedon to win the set 25-18. He finished with a set-high seven kills.

The fourth set would be one of the closest yet with both squads inching forward in the longest set of the day. It would see a red card awarded to the Bobcats and plenty of extracurriculars from both benches. It would also see a set-high seven kills from Canham, while the Bobcats were led by Friesen with two kills. Alberta struggled from the service line, recording an astounding nine service errors in the set. The Bears would eventually put the set away 25-20 and win the game 3-1.

The squads return to the Saville Centre for the final game of the weekend series tomorrow evening.