Bears earn #1 seed for U SPORTS Championship in Hamilton

The Alberta Golden Bears, who have been the top-ranked team throughout the season, will be the No. 1 seed at this week’s U SPORTS Men’s Volleyball Championship. U SPORTS announced the seeding on Sunday for the 2023 national tournament, which runs from Friday to Sunday at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. This is the first time the Golden Bears, who are seeking their ninth Tantramar Trophy, come into the tournament as favourites since 2014.

Alberta is coming off their first Canada West title since 2015, and are seeking a second-consecutive U SPORTS banner. 

U SPORTS CHAMPIONSHIP SEEDING

1. Alberta Golden Bears (CW champions: 22-2 regular season, 5-0 playoffs)
2. McMaster Marauders (OUA champions: 18-2, 3-0)
3. Trinity Western Spartans (CW finalists: 18-6, 4-1)
4. Sherbrooke Vert & Or (RSEQ champions: 15-1, 4-0)
5. Windsor Lancers (OUA finalists: 15-5, 2-1)
6. Montréal Carabins (RSEQ finalists: 11-5, 2-2)
7. Saskatchewan Huskies (CW bronze medallists: 17-7, 3-3)
8. Toronto Varsity Blues (OUA bronze medallists: 13-7, 2-1)

The eight participating teams are seeded with the requirements that conference playoff results be respected, that conference champions be seeded no lower than No. 6, that the top two teams from each conference are on opposite sides of the draw and to avoid conference matchups as much as possible.

U SPORTS CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE
ALL TIMES MOUNTAIN

Friday, 11:00 a.m.: No. 8 Toronto vs. No. 1 Alberta
Friday, 1:00 p.m.: No. 5 Windsor vs. No. 4 Sherbrooke
Friday, 4:00 p.m.: No. 7 Saskatchewan vs. No. 2 McMaster
Friday, 6:00 p.m.: No. 6 Montréal vs. No. 3 Trinity Western 

Consolation games will take place on Saturday at 1 and 3 p.m., with the semifinals set for 6 and 8 p.m. While normal U SPORTS practice indicates that the first two quarterfinal winners would meet in the first semifinal, should McMaster win on Friday, their order of the semifinals will be switched, giving the Marauders the 6 p.m. game while Friday afternoon’s winners would play at 8 p.m.
 
On Sunday, the fifth-place game is set for noon, with the bronze medal game following at 2 p.m. and the championship game at 6 p.m.
 
All 11 games from the eight-team competition will be webcast live on CBC Sports digital platforms (English) and USPORTS.ca (French), up to and including Sunday’s gold medal game. The full webcast schedule will be available throughout the tournament at usports.ca/en/broadcast.