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CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH

ALBERTA GOLDEN BEARS vs. TRINITY WESTERN SPARTANS

Friday, March 10 @ 7 p.m. MST – Saville Community Sports Centre in Edmonton, AB

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Spanish soccer has FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. Major League Baseball has the Red Sox and Yankees. And Canada West men’s volleyball has the Golden Bears and Spartans.

For the third straight postseason and ninth time since 2005, Alberta and Trinity Western will play for the Costa Chrysanthou Trophy when the 2023 Canada West men’s volleyball championship match is contested at the Saville Centre on Friday. Catch the action live on Canada West TV, beginning at 7 p.m. MST.

These venerated rivals from neighbouring provinces have been on a collision course since the beginning of the 2023 Canada West men’s volleyball playoffs. Neither has lost a match yet this postseason, both sweeping through the best-of-three quarterfinal and semi-final rounds. Last week Alberta punched its ticket to the final by defeating the Saskatchewan Huskies 3-1 and 3-0, while Trinity Western advanced with victories of 3-2 and 3-1 over the Calgary Dinos.

Alberta earned the right to host the championship match by virtue of topping the 2022-23 Canada West standings with a record of 22-2. Trinity Western ended the season in third place with a record of 18-6. The teams came out of the holiday break tied atop the standings at 11-1, before Alberta defeated the host Spartans by identical scores of 3-0 on back-to-back nights in Langley at the beginning of January.

More than half of the 2022-23 Canada West All-Star First Team will take the court in this series, with two such honourees on each side. Alberta is powered offensively by hitter Jordan Canham and protected defensively by libero Landon Currie. Trinity Western, meanwhile, boats an outside tandem with the top two hitting percentages in Canada West, Jesse Elser and Brodie Hofer.All four aforementioned star student-athletes have been key to their teams’ respective playoff runs thus far.

Trinity Western is the two-time defending Canada West gold medalist and appearing in the championship final for an 11^th consecutive postseason. Alberta seeks to add to its all-time record haul of 13 Canada West titles by capturing the Costa Chrysanthou Trophy for the first time since 2015.

Beginning with their first postseason meeting in 2004, this will be the 13^th occasion that the Golden Bears and Spartans have played each other during the Canada West playoffs, which includes a pair of semi-final contests and two bronze medal matches. From their previous 12 Canada West postseason matches, each side owns six wins.

Alberta prevailed in its first five Canada West championship finals against Trinity Western (2005, 2006, 2010, 2014, and 2015) but the Spartans have since won three consecutive matches against the Golden Bears when the Costa Chrysanthou Trophy is on the line (2018, 2020, 2022).

Both Canada West finalists have already clinched a berth in the upcoming 2023 U SPORTS Men’s Volleyball Championship, March 17-19 at McMaster University in Hamilton. Last year’s U SPORTS gold medal match saw Alberta defeated TWU in what was fifth time that the Golden Bears and Spartans have played each other in the national championship final, adding to their storied head-to-head history.

Bronze Medal Match

SASKATCHEWAN HUSKIES vs. CALGARY DINOS

Friday, Match 10 @ 7 p.m. CST – Physical Activity Complex in Saskatoon, SK

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Either the Huskies or Dinos will join Alberta and Trinity Western in Hamilton, as the winner of Friday’s bronze medal match, at the PAC in Saskatoon, books itself a trip to the 2023 U SPORTS Men’s Volleyball Championship. Live streaming will be available on Canada West TV, beginning at 7 p.m. CST.

Saskatchewan swept the Dinos in the teams’ regular season matches, winning by scores of 3-0 and 3-0 in Saskatoon on Feb. 4 and 10.

The Dinos are looking to advance to the U SPORTS championship for a second consecutive year, while Saskatchewan seeks its first trip to the national championship since 2016.

CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL

To stay up-to-date on all the action, visit Championship Central.

WATCH

Catch all games streaming live on Canada West TV.