EDMONTON - The Alberta Golden Bears sported a hitting percentage of .464%, and were paced by fourth-year Matt Shand who finished two kills short of his career-high but led the contest with 13, as they knocked off the UFV Cascades 3-0 (25-15, 25-18, 25-17) Friday evening at the Saville Centre.

This one was all Alberta, all the time, as they only trailed twice in the contest, both on opening points from the Cascades. It was a dominant sweep with a mixture of good offence (34 kills on 56 attacks), good service (seven aces), and some UFV struggles (.169 hitting percentage, 19 serve errors).

Alberta, ranked #3 in the nation last week, moved to 4-1 and sit in second place in the Canada West, while the UFV Cascades are still searching for their first win of the season at 0-5. The visitors were led by Roan McCarthy who finished with nine kills and two blocks.

The Bears got off to a hot start in the first set, getting out to a 5-1 lead on a couple of Jacob Sargent kills as the third-ranked offence in the CW wasted no time getting out to an early lead. However, the Cascades behind McCarthy would push the game to as close as 10-8 before a 10-4 Alberta run would all but seal the opener. Four Bears had a team-high four kills, while McCarthy had a set high five.

Matt Shand would lead a strong Alberta attack in the second that hit .444 to seal a 25-18 win. He recorded four kills to go with a dig as the Bears went up 2-0, leading the whole way in. The third would be no different, as after a spirited start to the frame, the Cascades would fade as the Bears took it 25-17.

The teams return to action tomorrow for their last meeting of the season.