SATURDAY

#5 UBC 3 #7 Brandon 0

Bobcats-Thunderbirds Stats

by Lee Dorner, UBC Sports Information Assistant

VANCOUVER – The #5 UBC Thunderbirds kept pace near the top of the standings with an impressive sweep of the #7 Brandon Bobcats, capped off with Saturday's 3-0 win (28-26, 25-22, 25-17) at War Memorial Gym behind another big day from Ben Chow.
 
Chow, who sat out last weekend with an injury and only returned to the court Friday morning before game one, set the pace with 17 kills on .467 hitting. Milan Nikic had a great all-around match for the second night in a row, coming up with kills on both his attack attempts to go with 34 assists and a great job at the service line that yielded two aces to go with two block assists.
 
Quentin Schmidt also had a big night with 11 kills on the outside. Brandon's top outside hitter, Sam Tuivai, had 16 kills.

The Bobcats fall to 7-9, and now they look forward to a crucial home-and-home with the Winnipeg Wesmen next week, who are also fighting for a playoff spot at 7-9. UBC improves to 11-5, tied for second in the Canada West standings with Alberta and Thompson Rivers, and they will square off against Mount Royal on the road next week, as they embark on a tough stretch to finish the season against three teams all still in the thick of the playoff race.
 
The next home games for UBC are also their last of the regular season, scheduled for January 31 and February 1 against Saskatchewan.

UBC Athletics

Calgary 3 #3 Alberta 2

Dinos-Golden Bears Stats

by Paul Cartledge, U of Alberta Sports Information

EDMONTON - In true Battle of Alberta form, the #3 Alberta Golden Bears and Calgary Dinos dueled back and forth into an extended fifth and final set, victoriously going the way of the Dinos (21-25, 25-19, 15-25, 25-22, 23-21), Saturday night at Saville Community Sports Centre.

Third-year left side Ryley Barnes spun a game-high 21 kills and six aces to go with 10 digs. Senior left side Jay Olmstead put up 19 kills and 10 digs.

Senior outside hitter Greg Mann netted 20 kills for Calgary alongside 11 digs while another fifth-year outside hitter Andrew Visser had 11 kills.

The Dinos improve to 9-7 on the season to maintain a respectable playoff position in the Canada West standings. With the loss, Alberta drops to 11-5, putting them in a tie for second place.

Alberta heads out on the road next weekend for a two-game series against the UBC Okanagan Heat while Calgary returns home to face the Saskatchewan Huskies.

U of A Athletics

#2 Trinity Western 3 UBC Okanagan 0

Heat-Spartans Stats

by Scott Stewart, TWU Sports Information

LANGLEY, BC – The #2 Trinity Western Spartans extended their winning streak to eight games with a 3-0 win over the visiting UBC Okanagan Heat on Saturday at the Langley Events Centre.

The 25-23, 25-20, 25-21 victory improves the Spartans to 15-1 on the season, while the loss drops the Heat to 4-12.
 
TWU middles Lucas Van Berkel had with 13 kills, with Branden Schmidt adding seven and six blocks. UBCO's Nate Speijer recorded 15 kills and Kyle Pankratz had 11.
 
The Spartans will now travel to Kamloops, B.C. to take on the current #4 Thompson Rivers WolfPack. Match times for Friday, January 24 and Saturday, January 25 are set for 7:45 p.m. and 6:45 p.m. UBC Okanagan will now head home to host the University of Alberta.

TWU Athletics

Mount Royal 3 #9 Manitoba 0

Cougars-Bisons Stats

by Sara Shyiak, Bisons Sports Information

WINNIPEG - The #9 Manitoba Bisons were looking for a win on Saturday at Investors Group Athletic Centre. Mount Royal took them in three sets (25-22, 25-19, 25-15).
 
Cougar Colton deMan got the game-high of 14 kills and was followed for his team by Jordan Lantz with eight. Bisons Kevin Falconer and Devren Dear were on-point with 11 kills each.
 
Mount Royal improves to 8-8 while the Bisons drop to 6-10.
 
Manitoba will play at Regina next weekend against the Regina Cougars for two game series January 24 and 25.

Bisons Athletics

#4 Thompson Rivers 3 Winnipeg 0

WolfPack-Wesmen Stats

by Sheldon Appelle, Wesmen Sports Information

WINNIPEG - The #4 Thompson Rivers WolfPack salvaged a weekend split with the Winnipeg Wesmen after posting a 3-0 (36-34, 25-23, 25-21) victory on Saturday in the Dr. David F. Anderson Gymnasium.

The WolfPack with the win improve to 11-5. Winnipeg with the loss drops to 7-9.

The duo of Brad Gunter and Casey Knight led the WolfPack with 15 kills each. Setter Colin Carson led the team with 12 digs and had 43 assists. Hardy Woolridge led the team in blocks with four.

Winnipeg was led by Tom Douglas-Powell's 12 kills and four blocks. Matthew Schriemer added 10 kills. Casey Schouten had 10 digs and two service aces.

The WolfPack will play Trinity Western at home next weekend. Winnipeg will play their provincial rivals the Brandon Bobcats in a home and home series starting Wednesday in Winnipeg and wrapping up on Friday in Brandon.

U of Winnipeg Wesmen

#8 Saskatchewan 3 Regina 0

Cougars-Huskies Stats

by Nicole Betker, Huskies Sports Information

SASKATOON - The #8 Saskatchewan Huskies used a .402 hitting percentage to complete a sweep of the visiting Regina Cougars 3-0 (25-19, 25-16, 25-14) on Saturday at the PAC.
 
Leading the team on the attack was third-year outside hitter Jordan Nowakowski with 14 kills. Balancing the attack from the other side was fifth-year Bryan Fraser with 10 kills. Libero Matthew Erickson helped defensively recording a match-high 16 digs.
 
Andrew Nelson led the Cougars with 12 kills, while Joel Legasse added another six. Caleb Eschbach mastered 28 assists.
 
With the win Saskatchewan improves to 7-9, while Regina is still winless at 0-16.
 
The Huskies travel to meet the Calgary Dinos next weekend, while the Cougars return home to host the Manitoba Bisons.

Huskie Athletics

FRIDAY

#2 Trinity Western 3 #5 UBC Okanagan 2

Heat-Spartans Stats

by Mark Janzen, TWU Sports Information

LANGLEY, BC – Down 2-1, the #2 Trinity Western Spartans rallied to beat #5 UBC Okanagan 3-2 (25-15, 22-25, 19-25, 25-17, 15-9) on Friday at the Langley Events Centre.
 
With the victory, TWU extends its winning streak to seven games and improves its record to 14-1. The Heat gave the second-ranked team an impressive run, but fall to 4-11.
 
Trinity Western was led by Brad Kufske, who had 16 kills, while Nick Del Bianco had 14 kills and three aces.

The Heat were led by Nate Speijer, who had 14 kills, two aces and two blocks. UBCO had four different players with eight kills including Jim Bell, Lars Bornemann, Alex Swiatlowski and Chris Wilson. Bell also had a team-high four blocks.
 
The Spartans and Heat meet in the rematch Saturday at 5 p.m. at the Langley Events Centre.

TWU Athletics

#3 Alberta 3 Calgary 0

Dinos-Golden Bears Stats

by Paul Cartledge, U of A Sports Information

EDMONTON - Riding a four-game winning streak, the #3 Alberta Golden Bears were put to the test as they extended it to five, picking up a hard-fought straight-sets win (25-23, 28-26, 25-18) against the Calgary Dinos, Friday at Saville Community Sports Centre.

Third-years Ryley Barnes and John Goranson netted 11 and 10 kills, respectively, Goranson recording a stellar 67% attack percentage and zero errors on 15 attempts. Sophomore setter Brett Walsh had a game-high 36 assists.

Calgary kill leader Greg Mann put up a game-high 17 kills for the visitors, while second-year setter Alex Cook earned 32 assists.

The Bears improve to 11-4, taking sole possession of second in the conference standings. Calgary goes to 8-7 on the season, putting them in a tight situation in the bottom half of the seven spots available for the playoffs.

The provincial rivals will meet again for a rematch on Saturday night, game time at Saville Community Sports Centre going at 5:00 p.m.

U of A Athletics

Winnipeg 3 #4 Thompson Rivers 1

WolfPack-Wesmen Stats

by Sheldon Appelle, Wesmen Sports Information

WINNIPEG - The Winnipeg Wesmen came back from a first set loss to defeat the #4 Thompson Rivers WolfPack 3-1 (21-25, 25-22, 25-21, 25-20) on Friday in the Dr. David F. Anderson Gymnasium.

The hometown Wesmen dropped the opening set by a margin of 25-21 but stormed back winning the final three sets in impressive fashion.

Tom Douglas-Powell led the Wesmen with a match high 24 kills. Matthew Dueck was next with nine. Matthew Schriemer making his home debut had eight kills and four blocks. Casey Schouten led the team in digs with eight.

The WolfPack were led by Brad Gunter's 20 kills. Casey Knight and Jacob Tricarico each had 10. Matt Krueger led the team in digs with nine. Daniel Eikeland Rod led the WolfPack in blocks with three.

Winnipeg with the win improves to 7-8, while the WolfPack fall to 10-5.

The two teams will battle in the early match on Saturday at 6:00 p.m.

U of Winnipeg Wesmen

UBC 3 #7 Brandon 1

Bobcats-Thunderbirds Stats

by Lee Dorner, UBC Sports Information Assistant

VANCOUVER – After sitting out a week with injury and watching his team drop both games while he was gone, Ben Chow returned to the lineup in impressive fashion for the UBC Thunderbirds on Friday, guiding them to a 3-1 win (21-25, 25-15, 25-18, 25-22) over the #7 Brandon Bobcats with a match-high 17 kills.
 
Milan Nikic had a great all-around performance, with four of UBC's six aces and 43 assists, as well as five kills on six attempts, including one on match point. Alex Russell had 11 kills on .500 hitting.
 
Dan Boutwell led the Bobcats with 15 kills and Sam Tuivai added 12. Jeremy Davies had nine kills and a team-high 11 digs.
 
The win puts UBC into a tie for third in the Canada West standings at 10-5, while Brandon falls below .500 at 7-8, in a three-way tie for sixth.

The weekend series wraps up on Saturday at 7 p.m.

UBC Athletics

#8 Saskatchewan 3 Regina 0

Cougars-Huskies Stats

by Nicole Betker, Huskies Sports Information

SASKATOON - A balanced offence led the #8 Saskatchewan Huskies over the visiting Regina Cougars 3-0 (25-18, 25-19, 25-23) on Friday at the PAC.
 
Fifth-year outside hitter Bryan Fraser led the Huskies with 10 kills, while Braden McLean, Jordan Nowakowski and Paul Thomson each recorded seven kills for Saskatchewan. The Huskies also tallied five aces.
 
Andrew Nelson led the Cougars with 10 kills, while Joel Legasse added another seven. Jacques Borgeaud tallied a match-high 12 digs.
 
With the win Saskatchewan improves to 6-9, while Regina is still in search of their first win of the season at 0-15.
 
The two teams will meet again Saturday at 8 p.m., webcast on canadawest.tv.

Huskie Athletics

Mount Royal 3 #9 Manitoba 1

Cougars-Bisons Stats

by Sara Shyiak, Bisons Sports Information

WINNIPEG - The Mount Royal Cougars won 3-1 (19-25, 25-18, 25-21, 25-21) over the #9 Manitoba in an evenly matched game at Investors Group Athletic Centre on Friday.

Both teams went into the game with a 6-8 record. The Cougars now stand at 7-8 and the Bisons drop to 6-9.
 
Manitoba player Devren Dear shone with 22 total kills. His teammates Adam DeJonckheere and Kevin Falconer both got 11. Cougar Colton deMan came in second for the game with 12 kills.  Mount Royal player Riley Friesen got 11.  
 
The Cougars and the Bisons will play again Saturday in the final game of this weekend series, 7 p.m. at Investors Group Athletic Centre.

Bisons Athletics

About Canada West Universities Athletic Association
Canada West is consistently the most decorated of the four conferences in Canadian Interuniversity Sport, winning 100 CIS national over the last 10 seasons. Comprised of 17 schools from the provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia, Canada West produces numerous major award winners and Academic All-Canadian student-athletes each year, with many going on to athletic success around the globe in pro leagues or events such as the Olympics, Paralympics or Universiade Games. canadawest.org / canadawest.tv / @cwuaa on Twitter

A proud member of Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS).