Undefeated Golden Bears chase CIS ‘three-peat’
The Alberta Golden Bears volleyball team has accomplished just about everything imaginable, becoming a volleyball powerhouse with seven Canadian Interuniversity Sport national championships under the guidance of head coach Terry Danyluk.
But the Bears have a chance this year to accomplish something no school has done in 42 years: three successive championships.
But you won’t hear the phrase “three-peat” come out of Danyluk’s mouth.
“I don’t even want to mention it. The last two years are done. What we did last year doesn’t matter now. That’s the approach we’re trying to take,” said Danyluk, who admits to being superstitious.
“This happened a couple of years back in ’08 and ’09 when we won back-to-back, and it’s something we don’t discuss among the team.”
The No. 2-ranked Bears are putting together a perfect season so far. A straight-sets win (25-17, 25-15, 28-26) against the No. 5-ranked UBC Thunderbirds on Friday night at the Saville Community Sports Centre improves their record to 17-0.
The last school to three-peat was Winnipeg back in 1974 when they capped off their fourth straight CIS title in a row.
Since then, six schools have been in position to pull it off, but fell short, including the Bears in 2010.
“In the end we’re good enough or we’re not. That’s been the driving force. Every week, every game we want to be better,” said Danyluk.
“We want to give ourselves the opportunity to get there, but there’s a lot of great teams we have to go through to get there.”
While the Bears are chasing a third straight CIS title, they’re also chasing perfection. The last team to have a perfect season were the Bears during the 2009-10 campaign.
This Bears squad is fun to watch. They can beat you with power and finesse and they have all the makings to do it again.
“Going for a three-peat or having a perfect season ... we try to keep a narrow focus on the whole thing,” said fourth-year Bears setter Brett Walsh.
The Canada West is the toughest conference in the CIS with five schools in ranked in the Top 10.
After this weekend’s doubleheader against UBC, the Bears face Regina and Winnipeg on the road and Calgary at home. Calgary and Winnipeg are ranked No. 4 and No. 6 respectively.
While it can be tough to get out of the conference, the Bears are almost a guarantee to make it to nationals and are threats to win every year.
“Our program has been to nationals 19 of the past 20 years, and part of my philosophy is bringing in guys that strive to want to be the best. I’ve been real lucky the guys have embraced what it means to be a Golden Bear,” said Danyluk.
“It’s easy for me to say things to them, but it means so much more when you have guys in the room pushing and motivating each other.” PANDASWIN: The No.3-ranked U of A Pandas swept the No. 9 UBC Thunderbirds (25-17, 26-24, 25-18) on Friday night to improve to 14-3 this season.
The Bears and Pandas will finish their two-game set against UBC on Saturday at the Saville Community Sports Centre, with the Bears’ first serve going at 5 p.m., while the Pandas play at 6:30 p.m.