University of Alberta sweeps Canada West in exciting night cap

Friday night’s night cap on November 22 saw the University of Alberta go 7-0 over all games. The Golden Bears and Pandas swimming, hockey, volleyball, and basketball teams dominated their respective sports.

The Pandas hockey, volleyball, and basketball teams are currently second, third, and fifth respectively in Canada West. While the Bears hockey and volleyball teams are first in Canada West followed by the basketball team sitting at fifth in the prairie division.

U of A hockey dominates the Huskies

The Bears’ hockey team dominated the Saskatchewan Huskies in their first ever Teddy Bear Toss game. Connor McClennon took over with three goals, followed by captain Josh Prokop’s goal and two assists. However, you cannot talk about Friday night hockey with the Bears without mentioning goalie Ethan Kruger. Kruger was a star of the game, denying any breakaway attempts by the Huskies.

The Pandas hockey team got a shutout in Saskatchewan after outshooting the Huskies 36-14. This earned the Pandas their fifth straight win and third over the Huskies after no goals in the first period.

Like Kruger, the Pandas’ goaltending was solid over all areas. Pandas goalie Grace Glover got her third shutout of the season and maintains her spot as the best goalie in Canada West. On the offensive side, Pandas captain Izzy Lajoie got two assists and three shots on goal.

Golden Bears and Pandas volleyball never slows down

After giving up a rare set to the Calgary Dinos, the Bears’ volleyball team secured three straight sets to win 3-1. The Bears wrapped up the game with an impressive 0.426 attack percentage and 9-0 record.

Liam Espedido earned four-consecutive aces in the stressful fourth set and 13 kills over 20 attempts. The Bears dominated the offensive structure with an extra 17 kills on 38 swings by Isaac Heslinga.

The only thing better than a 3-1 win by the Bears was the 3-0 win secured by the Pandas volleyball team. The Pandas got their sixth-straight win after 37 kills, taking them to a now 6-3 record.

Thanks to 10 kills on 14 attempts from Allie Moore and nine kills on 15 attempts from Laila Johnston, the Pandas averaged a 0.304 attack percentage.

The Brandon Bobcats could not catch up to U of A’s offensive pressence

The Bears’ basketball team gained a strong 31-12 lead in the first quarter thanks to a 10-point double-double from Caiden Kushnir. Even with a risky second and third quarter the Bears were able to take a 72-69 win over the Brandon Bobcats.

Isaac Simon led the game with 19 points, but Logan Powell saved the game in the last 24 seconds. After trailing by one, Powell’s three-pointer tipped the Bears over the edge.

The Pandas basketball team saw less of a back and forth, and more of throttle over the Bobcats. The Pandas led every quarter with an average of 8.5 more points and a 95-53 overall win.

Recent academic all-Canadian Claire Signatovich stole the game with 21 points and seven rebounds. The Pandas made 48 per cent of their attempted shots with 60 points coming from inside the paint.

Bears’ swimming picks up medals on day one followed by the Pandas

The Bears and Pandas swim team headed out to Vancouver for the 2024 Oldum Brown Canada West Championships on November 22.

Garrett Brendzan took gold in the men’s 50 meter breaststroke with a time of 27.47. While Paul McKenzie makes the most of his rookie year with a 15.16.55 time in the 1,500 meter category to get silver.

The Pandas trailed behind with a fourth and fifth place win by Gabrielle Dunn in the 800 meter and Annika Cameron in the 50 meter butterfly.

Both the Bears and Pandas placed fourth in the 4×200 freestyle relay.