Heslinga, Sargeant lead Bears to rebound victory over Bisons

EDMONTON – Third-year Isaac Heslinga had a game-high 13 kills to help the Alberta Golden Bears rebound and defeat the Manitoba Bisons 3-0 (25-17, 25-19, 25-19) Saturday night at the Saville Centre.

He was joined in the winning effort by Jacob Sargeant who had 10 kills of his own. Eric Ogaranko impressed for the visitors, recording seven kills on a .333 hitting percentage.

With the win Alberta (16-6) slides into a virtual first-place tie with the MRU Cougars, however based on set ratios as it stands they are in first in the Canada West. Manitoba moves to 12-10 on the year, still sitting in eighth-place

It was Senior Appreciation Night at Saville, where the Bears celebrated the departing third-year Sam Drybrough, and fourth-years Billy Johnstone and Grayden Wiebe. All three players enjoyed an esteemed career with the program, including winning the 2022 U SPORTS National Championship.

The first set began tight, with the Bisons Eric Ogaranko and the Bears Liam Espedido leading both sides with four kills a piece at the mid-set mark. Alberta jumped to a 17-13 lead, and would not look back from there winning the set 25-17. Espedido impressed for the Bears, ending with a set-high five kills, while Ogaranko was good on the visiting side with a set-high five of his own. Both teams were good on the attack, but the Bears outhit the Bisons to the tune of a .462-to-.333 advantage.

The Bears maintained that momentum into the second, cruising to a 8-2 lead to start the set on the back of an ace and a couple kills from Heslinga. However, the Bisons would go on a 9-3 run themselves to knot the game at 11. And while the visitors stayed with Alberta for the majority of the set, an 8-4 run punctuated by a Heslinga kill would lead the Bears to a 25-19 win. 

Manitoba regrouped for the start of the third set, leading 8-5 and getting some great attacking play from outside Karil Dadash Adeh. However, an opportune timeout from the Bears helped them regroup, and they would quickly take control of the frame from there. XXX had xxx for Alberta as they put a bow on the match with a 25-xxx set victory.

The Bears go on the road to play the Fraser Valley Cascades next weekend to finish off their regular season, while the Bisons return home to play host to the Saskatchewan Huskies in their last matchup of the campaign.