EDMONTON – Alberta’s Isaac Heslinga, Liam Espedido, and Trent Cherewaty combined for 30 kills to help the Golden Bears in a tight 3-1 (21-25, 25-21, 25-23, 25-20) grudge match victory over the UBC Thunderbirds Friday evening at the Saville Centre.
It was a huge win for the U SPORTS #3 Golden Bears, as they had gone 2-3 in their last five and needed a spark before heading into the Canada West playoffs. They hit .339 compared to the Thunderbirds .287 in what was an impressive showcase of arms on both sides. Heslinga, the reigning Player of the Year, certainly looked the part leading the game in kills and also adding three aces. Alberta moves into second place in the conference with a better set differential than the fellow 13-4 Thunderbirds.
The #5 ranked UBC Thunderbirds looked championship worthy at points in this one, but were unable to overcome some real Alberta grit in the latter sets. Gavin Moes paced the squad with 13 kills, while Dawson Pratt added 10. The Thunderbirds combined for six blocks in the game, a full three-and-a-half more than the hosts. They generally were better on the blockline, but Alberta was stout defensively, holding UBC to a 0.213 attacking mark after the first set.
The first set was largely dominated by the visitors, a 25-21 win, quieting a large Friday night Saville Centre crowd. Pratt paced all players with five kills in the frame as the UBC offence was stellar hitting .462. The Bears showed some momentum at the end that would carry into the next set, where they matched the TBirds with a 25-21 win of their own. Espedido was stellar, recording six kills and getting his attacks past a stout UBC blockline.
A third set that took 34 minutes was the highlight of the night, as Alberta battled to a 25023 victory in a frame that featured eight tie scores, and a couple lead changes. Cherewaty heated up in this one, recording three kills and being a spark plug to a Bears team that, at times, looked somewhat flat. From there, a 25-20 win with the largely student crowd blaring was in store for Alberta as they exorcised some recent demons with an overall 3-1 match win.
The teams return to play tomorrow evening for their final regular season matchup of the season.