The Alberta Golden Bears, who have been the top-ranked team throughout the season, will be the No. 1 seed at this week's U SPORTS Men's Volleyball Championship. U SPORTS announced the seeding on Sunday for the 2023 national tournament, which runs from Friday to Sunday at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. This is the first time the Golden Bears, who are seeking their 10th Tantramar Trophy, come into the tournament as favourites since 2014.

Alberta is coming off their first Canada West title since 2015, and are seeking a second-consecutive U SPORTS banner. 

SEEDING:

1. Alberta Golden Bears (CW champions: 22-2 regular season, 5-0 playoffs)
2. McMaster Marauders (OUA champions: 18-2, 3-0)
3. Trinity Western Spartans (CW finalists: 18-6, 4-1)
4. Sherbrooke Vert & Or (RSEQ champions: 15-1, 4-0)
5. Windsor Lancers (OUA finalists: 15-5, 2-1)
6. Montréal Carabins (RSEQ finalists: 11-5, 2-2)
7. Saskatchewan Huskies (CW bronze medalists: 17-7, 3-3)
8. Toronto Varsity Blues (OUA bronze medalists: 13-7, 2-1)

CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE (all times MOUNTAIN)
 
Friday, March 17
11:00 a.m.: Quarter-Final #1 - No. 8. Toronto vs No. 1 Alberta 
1:00 p.m.: Quarter-Final #2 - No. 5 Windsor vs No. 4 Sherbrooke
4:00 p.m.: Quarter-Final #3 - No. 7 Saskatchewan vs No. 2 McMaster
6:00 p.m.: Quarter-Final #4 - No. Montreal vs No. 3 Trinity Western
 
Saturday, March 18
11:00 a.m.: Consolation #1—Loser Quarter-final #1 vs. Loser Quarter-final #2
1:00 p.m.: Consolation #2—Loser Quarter-final #3 vs. Loser Quarter-final #4
4:00 p.m.: Semifinal #1—Winner Quarter-final #1 vs. Winner Quarter-final #2
6:00 p.m.: Semifinal #2—Winner Quarter-final #3 vs. Winner Quarter-final #4
 
Sunday, March 19
10:00 a.m.: 5th-place game
12:00 p.m.: Bronze Medal
4:00 p.m.: Gold Medal

The eight participating teams are seeded with the requirements that conference playoff results be respected, that conference champions be seeded no lower than No. 6, that the top two teams from each conference are on opposite sides of the draw and to avoid conference matchups as much as possible.
 

WEBCAST LINK

 

LIVE STATS LINK

All 11 games from the eight-team competition will be webcast live on CBC Sports digital platforms (English) and USPORTS.ca (French), up to and including Sunday's gold medal game. The full webcast schedule will be available throughout the tournament at usports.ca/en/broadcast.