Golden Bears advance to third national final in four years with win over Sherbrooke

BRANDON, MB – It took a full five sets, but the Golden Bears are off to the national final. A 3-2 win for Alberta over Sherbrooke sets up a Golden Bears vs Brandon Bobcats national final on Sunday night. 

It’s the third national final for Alberta in the last four years, who look for a second-straight U SPORTS Championship, and record 11th overall. Alberta raced out to a 2-0 lead, before the Vert et Or stormed back to send the match to a fifth set. However Brock Davidiuk‘s crew fought off the reverse sweep, punching their ticket to the final with a 15-10 fifth set win. 

The host and No. 8 seed Bobcats advanced to the final after upsetting the No. 1 seed Winnipeg Wesmen and No. 5 seed Saskatchewan Huskies. It will be the third national final for Brandon, and first since 2019.

Isaac Heslinga led the Bears with 22 kills, adding four aces and two blocks in the semifinal win. Dylan Martens continued his strong national tournament, scoring 14 kills and three aces in Saturday night’s win. Luke Weddell dished out a match-high 45 assists to go along with four blocks and three aces. 

Yoan David led Sherbrooke with 13 kills on 24 attempts, in what was another five-set loss to Alberta, the other coming in the 2024 U SPORTS Final in Kingston. All-Canadian Jonathan Portelance had 32 assists, with Hugo Ouellet adding nine kills. 

It was looking like a quick semifinal win for Alberta, who cruised to a 2-0 set advantage. The Bears were firing on offence, owning a .700 attack percentage through two sets, scoring 24 kills on just 29 attempts. 

Sherbrooke turned their defence up a tick starting in the third set, forcing 10 Alberta attack errors in a 25-19 win. The Vert et Or finished the match with 16 fewer kills than Alberta, but had 11 blocks, a majority of which came in the third and fourth sets. 

Tied 5-5 in the fifth, a Martens service run broke the set open, giving Alberta a 12-6 lead. Liam Espedido and Owen Harris combined for a block on match point to secure the Bears win. 

The Championship Final is set for 5:00 p.m. MT tomorrow.