Ruilin FuThe 23-1 Golden Bears volleyball team comes into the Canada West final four with the odds stacked in their favour.
Coming off a bye week, the Bears are undefeated against the three other teams in the tournament. Joining the Bears in the final four will be the second-seeded Manitoba Bisons, as well as the fifth-seeded Saskatchewan Huskies and sixth-seeded Trinity Western Spartans.
With the Bears’ No. 1 ranking in the conference earning them a bye through to the final four, the other three teams played in quarterfinal matches last week to win their way in. Both Saskatchewan and Trinity Western are coming off grueling, come-from-behind victories on the road against Winnipeg and Calgary respectively, with both series going to three matches. Manitoba held home court convincingly, sweeping the Mount Royal Cougars in two matches.
The Bears will open the tournament Friday at 6:00 P.M. against Trinity Western, with Saskatchewan and Manitoba matching up at 3:00 P.M. that day. The top three teams from the final four will go on to the CIS Championships at McMaster next week.
The Bears and Bisons should finish in the top two spots, so look for a close battle between Trinity Western and Saskatchewan for the third and final spot in the tournament. The Huskies won both meetings between the two teams during the regular season without dropping a set.
Look for the Bears and Bisons to comfortably advance through their semifinals, and the Bears to squeak out a hard-fought win in the gold medal final. In the match for bronze, look for a streaking Trinity Western team to battle to a victory against the Huskies.
Bears feature prominently in Canada West awards
Fourth-year setter Brett Walsh was named the Canada West Player of the Year for the 2015-16 season.
The fourth-year Business student averaged an excellent 11.76 assists per set. After cracking the 1000-assist barrier last season, Walsh tallied 964 helpers this year. Luke Herr was the only player in Canada to best that number this year (with 988), however Herr played in seven more sets than Walsh.
Walsh was joined on the Canada West First-Team All-Star squad by fellow Bears Ryley Barnes and Taylor Arnett. Barnes, a 6’5” fifth-year outside hitter, was a top-five attacker in Canada West in terms of kills per set. Arnett is a 6’8” middle in his fourth year who averaged a respectable 2.8 points and 1.06 blocks per set, while killing at a .511 clip.
Arnett’s partner in the middle, 6’6” senior John Goranson, was named a Second-Team All-Star. His blocks per set figure was identical to Arnett’s, and his 2.5 points per set wasn’t far behind.
