While 13 regular season wins separate the top seed from the lowest seed, the eight teams that have qualified for the 2023 Canada West men’s volleyball playoffs are all on even footing now, two series victories away from playing for the Costa Chrysanthou Trophy.
Alberta’s Golden Bears, who topped the standings with 22 wins, host the nine-win Manitoba Bisons in one of four best-of-three quarterfinal series, as the postseason gets underway with matches scheduled Feb. 24 to Feb. 26. The winning squads move on to the best-of-three semi-final round, March 3-5, where they will play for a spot in the Canada West championship on March 10.
To stay up-to-date on all the action, visit Championship Central.
WATCH
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MATCH-UPS
#4 Saskatchewan Huskies (17-7) vs. #5 UBC Thunderbirds (15-9) at Physical Activity Complex (Saskatoon, SK)
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- Friday, Feb. 24 – 7:00 pm CST
- Saturday, Feb. 25 – 7:00 pm CST
- Sunday, Feb. 26 – 2:00 pm CST (if necessary)
How evenly matched are the Huskies and T-Birds? When they got together for two nights of competition in Vancouver at the beginning of January, each side won one match, each match lasted four sets, and the cumulative score in those eight sets was 187-187. The Huskies hope that having home court edge this time can tilt things in their favour: Saskatchewan was 10-2 at the PAC during the regular season, but the T-Birds are no strangers to success when they leave their nest, with a 6-5 road record in 2022-23.
#3 TWU Spartans (18-6) vs. #6 Brandon Bobcats (13-11) at Langley Events Centre (Langley, BC)
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- Thursday, Feb. 23 – 8:00 pm PST
- Friday, Feb. 24 – 8:00 pm PST
- Saturday, Feb. 25 – 7:00 pm PST (if necessary)
The two-time defending champion Spartans have won five of the last six Canada West championships. Brandon is the only other team to capture the Costa Chrysanthou Trophy in that span, doing so in 2019 with a thrilling five-set victory over TWU in the championship match. The Spartans have won all of their Canada West postseason matches since then, including defeating the Bobcats 3-2 in the first-round last year. These teams are meeting for the second straight weekend, after concluding their 2022-23 regular season schedule by splitting a pair of matches in Brandon.
#2 MRU Cougars (19-5) vs. #7 Calgary Dinos (12-12) at Kenyon Court (Calgary, AB)
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- Friday, Feb. 24 – 6:00 pm MST
- Saturday, Feb. 25 – 7:00 pm MST
- Sunday, Feb. 26 – 5:00 pm MST (if necessary)
The Dinos turned things around from an 0-5 start to 2022-23, which included a pair of losses to the Cougars, and roll into the playoffs with eight wins in their last 11 matches. MRU has been even hotter for even longer, losing only twice in its final 16 matches to finish with a program record 19 regular season wins. Last Canada West postseason the Cougars were eliminated in Round 1, while Calgary picked up the bronze medal.
#1 Alberta Golden Bears (22-2) vs. #8 Manitoba Bisons (9-15) at Saville Community Sports Centre (Edmonton, AB)
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- Thursday, Feb. 23 – 7:00 pm MST
- Friday, Feb. 24 – 7:00 pm MST
- Saturday, Feb. 25 – 2:00 pm MST (if necessary)
Manitoba lost as many matches last weekend, going 0-2 in Calgary, as the Golden Bears did over their entire 2022-23 schedule, although the Bisons showed can they compete with the Bears during a 3-2 loss in Winnipeg on Jan. 13, in what was just one of four matches all season that the Bears dropped more than one set. The big question is whether Manitoba can play anywhere close to that level in Edmonton, as the Bisons went 2-9 on the road during the regular season. Alberta, meanwhile, knows what it takes to win at this time of year, as evidenced by the Bears’ 2022 medal haul of Canada West silver and U Sports gold.
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