UofA Athletics After winning the Canada West (CW) title on Saturday night, Alberta was named the number one seed for the national championship, which runs from March 13 to 15 in Langley, British Columbia. It is the second consecutive year the Pandas have earned the top seed.
It comes after an incredible playoff run that ended with a banner, a packed Saville Centre, and a fourth set that felt like it might swing the entire weekend in the other direction before Alberta dragged it back.
The Pandas’ path through the conference playoffs was not easy, even if the results look clean on paper.
In the semifinal, Alberta swept Thompson Rivers University. Even that match was tighter than a 3-0 scoreline suggests. Abby Guezen and Laila Johnston combined for 26 kills, and the Pandas fought hard, eventually putting the WolfPack away. The match showed one of the Panda’s traits that has defined their postseason: composure under pressure. They can absorb a run, wait for an opening, then meticulously gain the lead back.
That same pattern showed up again in the final, only on a much bigger stage.
Championship game
Against Trinity Western University, Alberta came out looking like the better team. The Pandas took the first set 28-26, then backed it up with a comfortable 25-15 win in the second. At that point, it looked like the CW title was going to easily find its way back into the Pandas’ paws.
The Spartans had something to say about that.
Trinity Western took the third set 25-20, and carried that momentum straight into the fourth. For a long stretch, it looked like the Spartans were going to force a fifth. They led 19-11, and the building got quiet. The energy that had pushed Alberta through the first two sets just was not there for a few minutes. Trinity Western was in control, and the match suddenly felt very different.
Alberta did not need one swing to flip the match, they needed a whole string of them. A Justine Kolody service run of five points forced the Spartans to take two timeouts to try and recollect. Ronnie Dickson was huge in that stretch, with three kills and a block. The crowd, which had gone silent at 19-11, started to come back with every point.
From there, it turned into a scramble.
The Pandas clawed their way to 19-16. The Spartans put a stop to it, getting a single point after their second time out. However, the Pandas didn’t let up, putting up another run of four to tie it up at 20 thanks to a Sara Gray ace. Suddenly the entire building was back in it. The teams traded points late, tied at 22, then 23, then 24. Alberta finally closed it out 26-24, with one remarkable comeback inside a single set that ended up deciding the championship.
That fourth set will be the one people remember. It was loud, tense, and messy in the way great playoff volleyball usually is. It also said a lot about this team.
Guezen, the CW Player of the Year, finished with 24 kills and was the clear offensive leader when Alberta needed one, earning Mikasa Player of the Game and CW championship game Most Valuable Player (MVP) honours. Dickson was just as important, putting up nine kills, three aces, and an unmistakable presence at the net. Payton Henderson added 10 kills, while Justine Kolody ran the offence with 46 assists. Alberta ended the match hitting .358 as a team, which is a strong number in a conference final, especially one that included a stretch where the Spartans had all the momentum.
Looking forward
Now the Pandas move on to nationals, where they will open as the number one seed against number eight University of Montréal.
On paper, that is a matchup Alberta should feel good about. Montréal went 13-8 in Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) play and was a very good three-set team, finishing 12-1 in matches that ended in three. Statistically, they are a solid all-around side. They averaged 12.1 kills per set, 2.1 aces per set, and 2.3 blocks per set, with a team attack percentage of .189. Those are respectable numbers, but they do not match Alberta’s top-end firepower, especially relative to the level competition the Pandas have been facing in Canada West.
Still, nationals rarely reward comfort. Alberta learned that last year, when the Pandas entered the tournament as the top seed and came away with bronze. This time, the expectation will be higher. The sour taste of bronze surely remains on the Pandas’ tongues.
As for the men, it was a much tougher finish. The Golden Bears fell in the CW semifinals, then lost again in the bronze medal match to the University of British Columbia. Dylan Martens led the way in that one with 12 kills, while Jacob Sargent, Trent Cherewaty, and Owen Harris all contributed. However, Alberta could not recover after the semifinal loss and will not be going to nationals. It was a disappointing end for a team that had itself in a strong position earlier in the season.
So now the volleyball spotlight sits fully on the Pandas.
They have won the conference. They have the number one seed. They have one of the best attackers in the country in Guezen, a dominant middle in Dickson, and a playoff-tested group that is hungry for gold.
The crowd at Saville already saw what this team can look like when the pressure hits. With broadcasting coverage from CBC Gem set to pull national viewers, the rest of the country is about to see it too.
