Golden Bears secure a second playoff life
It ain’t over till it’s over for University of Alberta Golden Bears volleyball this season, it seems.
Back from the brink to make their 19th consecutive U Sports championship tournament, the Bears are looking to bounce back after getting swept in a best-of-three quarter-final series at home at the hands of the Thompson Rivers University Wolf Pack that just as easily could have ended their post-season just as soon as it began.
Instead, the Bears find themselves slotted as the fifth seed among the top eight squads across the country who will clash at Quebec City’s Universite Laval this weekend, after suffering just a handful of losses over the regular season. On the way to a 17-5 record, the Bears were never ranked lower than No. 7 in the nation, which earned them an at-large berth in this weekend’s finals.
“It’s been a very competitive conference and competitive season. We faced some difficult teams in the second half, but toward the end, I think we were gaining some momentum,” said Bears assistant coach Brock Davidiuk. “And then we met a really good team in Thompson Rivers and lost in our first round, but fortunately, the ranking system provided us a second chance at going to nationals.”
Truth be told, it was the first time since 1988 that the Bears program missed out on qualifying for the conference semifinal, as they join the No. 1 Brandon University Bobcats, the No. 2 Trinity Western University Spartans, and the No. 4 Mount Royal University Cougars — their opponent in the opening round Friday (1 p.m., usports.live) — out of the Canada West Conference.
“Because our record over the season, or breadth of work, was good, they considered that over our conference playoff finish in terms of a berth for nationals,” Davidiuk said. “It’s the first year that’s been the case and we knew that ahead of time, but the interesting thing was we didn’t know exactly how that ranking system was going to react to our losses. So we didn’t want to get the guys’ hopes up when we lost in playoffs.
“But then two days later when the rankings came out, it was a nice surprise.”
And if the Bears end up capitalizing on their second life by turning it into a deep run in the tournament, it will come as a surprise to no one. Of the eight national titles in program history, seven have come under longtime head coach Terry Danyluk, including their most recent back-to-back wins in 2014 and ‘15.
“He’s built quite the program,” said Davidiuk, who played for Danyluk in the early part of the millennium before returning to the Bears as an assistant coach in 2013. “At some point or other, that (streak) had to come to an end. The other thing we talk about a lot was just how competitive this season was. Of the years I’ve been involved, there have been the most flips and flops in terms of teams beating other teams and probably the most parity in the conference in the last number of years.”
There was talk the Bears’ semifinal streak might come to an end last year, before the Bears dispatched the University of Calgary Dinos and University of British Columbia Thunderbirds on their way to appearing in the Canada West finals.
But whatever status quo may have been shaken up this year, the task ahead of them remains the same: Win to stay in.
“We’ve had a couple of our alumni reach out to us, Brett Walsh and Arran Chambers, who are playing on their pro teams overseas and they said: ‘Just enjoy the moment. The guys have earned their spot to be at nationals and now it’s just what lies ahead and not to worry about things from the past,’” said Davidiuk, whose squad travelled halfway across the country just to face a Cougars team from their own backyard in the opening round. “It used to be you weren’t able to face a team from your own conference in the first round, but that’s changed with the new seeding system.
“I think the rankings totally make sense. I’m not surprised that’s who we drew and I think it just speaks to how strong our conference is.”
The Bears are led by first team all-star Alex McMullin, a fifth-year player who became just the fifth Bears member to finish his career with 1,000 kills. Third-year outside hitter Taryq Sani also finished with another all-star season, leading the team with 3.73 kills per set.
Mount Royal is seeded fourth, also by virtue of an at-large berth, after reaching the semifinal of the conference playoffs having posted a 15-7 regular-season record.
“We faced them early on. A good team, well coached,” Davidiuk said. “They’ve got a really good setter-right side connection, two guys that have played together since they were 16, so that’s a big part of their offence.
“They’re strong in a lot of areas of their game, we’ll just have to make sure we’re ready for what they’re capable of, while just focusing on what we do on our side. Nothing too crazy.”