EDMONTON – The top team in the nation wasted little time getting their conference post-season off to a good start, as the Alberta Golden Bears cruised past the eighth-seeded Manitoba Bisons 3-0 (25-15, 25-13, 25-19) at Saville Community Sports Centre on Thursday night.
The win gives the top-seeded Bears a 1-0 series lead over Manitoba in their best-of-three Canada West quarter-final series.
Jordan Canham finished with a game-high 13 kills on 18 attempts for Alberta, with Cam Kern recording 31 assists and three aces. Alberta as a team finished with a 34-24 kill advantage and a .444 to .057 attack percentage lead.
“Cam ran the offence very well tonight. I think offensively it was his night, and both Billy and Jordan had wicked nights,” said Bears head coach Brock Davidiuk. “This group is really impressive in terms of how much they strive to learn. Our blocking tonight was sharp, and that is a skill that takes a while to develop.”
Billy Johnstone added eight kills on just 10 attempts, with Jacob Sargent and Isaac Heslinga adding six each.
Nicoles Carter led Manitoba’s attack with nine kills, but also committed seven errors in the loss.
“It wasn’t the result we were looking for, but it is the #1 vs #8 matchup, and Alberta played very well. We need to improve on the things we worked on this week,” said Bisons head coach Arnd Ludwig. “For us our goal this season was to make the playoffs. We have a very young team, a lot of first and second years. So ,getting this far is good experience for our team.”
Alberta opened the match with an incredibly efficient opening set, scoring 15 kills on just 23 attempts, recording just two errors. Heslinga and Canham led the Bears offence with four kills each, with Billy Johnstone and Jacob Sargent both going a perfect 3/3 on their swings.
By comparison, the Bisons struggled to find the floor, mustering just six kills on 18 attacks with five errors.
The Bisons couldn’t find an answer for the Bears block in the second either, scoring just seven kills on 27 swings, adding eight attacking errors. Alberta also owned a 5-1 block advantage over Manitoba through two sets, along with a 6-0 ace lead.
“We need to serve tougher tomorrow and get Alberta out of system,” continued Ludwig. “13 errors and no aces today. When the Bears are in system, they are very tough to block.”
The quartet of Canham, Heslinga, Johnstone and Sargent continued to pick apart the Bisons in the second, combining for 23 kills and just two errors in two convincing set wins.
While the third set was closer, it never felt as if Manitoba would claw their way to a set win. Despite a better offence from Manitoba in the third, the Bears were unstoppable, scoring 10 kills on just 18 attacks.
Game 2 of the CW quarter-final series is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. Friday night at Saville Community Sports Centre.
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