EDMONTON – The #1 U SPORTS ranked Alberta Golden Bears advanced to the Canada West Semifinals with a five-set (25-17, 25-17, 20-25, 26-28, 15-13 | 2-0 series) thrilling victory over the Manitoba Bisons Friday evening at the Saville Centre.
The reigning national champions were led by a game-high 17 kill performance by second-year Isaac Heslinga. Middle Billy Johnstone also impressed with eight kills and seven total blocks.
“I liked how we started,” said Golden Bears head coach Brock Davidiuk, who added a caveat – “Manitoba was down to their last set and played like it, while we could not muster up the same mental fortitude. We battled through it, but are going to need to be more steadfast in the future.”
It was a remarkable comeback performance from the Bisons, who end their season at 9-17 cumulatively. They saw a good performance from setter Jack Mandryk who orchestrated a phenomenal offence all night and finished with 45 assists and four kills. Head coach Arnd Ludwig liked how his team responded after going down two sets early.
“After the second set our distribution in passes and attacks was more variable, we were too predictable before and made it too easy for them to block. Unfortunately we could not bring it in the fifth set but still had a really good ending.”
The game began with a strong Alberta first two sets, taking both 25-17. The Golden Bear block line was impenetrable with seven total blocks coming in the sets. Johnstone was phenomenal, getting 3.5 blocks himself and hitting three kills. While the Bisons were struggling to convert, the underpinnings were there for a big comeback. They had an unsustainable 14 service errors and were still hitting to an alright .213 attacking percentage.
“After the second set, we brought Eric [Ogaranko] – our usual left side to the right side and I think he did a really good job there,” added Ludwig when asked about a key turning point in the match.
Good job he did, as Ogaranko had 12 kills from the third set on, a high for both squads. The run began with a 25-20 third set Bison victory which saw an amalgamation of errors from the home side including five on attack and six from the service line. Heslinga paced the Bears with four kills, while Ogaranko finished with six in the frame.
The fourth set was a rollercoaster, with neither team seeming to grab the momentum at any point in the frame. We needed extra points to find a winner, and the Bisons were able to outlast Alberta 28-26. The visitors hit .308 compared to Alberta’s .258 mark and out-killed them 15-13.
It led to an exciting final set which saw diving digs and ferocious attacking from both sides. We were knotted at eight apiece until veteran Graydon Wiebe took the service line for the hosts and did not give it back until Alberta had a comfortable 13-8 lead. Cam Kern was at his best on the run, setting up his attackers with clinical precision. The Bisons would fight back to 14-13, but a service error wrapped this one up at 3-2 for the hosts.
Alberta will await the results of this weekends series between the CW #4-seeded Saskatchewan Huskies and the #5 UBC Thunderbirds for whom they are hosting next weekend at the Saville Centre.