BRANDON, MB - The Cinderella run for the host Brandon Bobcats ended with a gold medal on Sunday night, as they beat Alberta 3-1 to win their first national title in program history. 

Brandon finished the regular season 6th in CW with a 10-10 record, before being swept by UBC in the Canada West Quarter-Final. The No. 8 seed Bobcats beat the No. 1 seed Winnipeg Wesmen, No. 5 Saskatchewan Huskies, and No. 3 Golden Bears on their home court at the U SPORTS Championship. 

Brandon finished the four-set final with a 20-3 block advantage, stuffing the Alberta attack. Both teams finished with 50 kills each, with Brandon holding a .369 to .252 attack % edge. 

The silver for the Golden Bears is their 23rd U SPORTS medal in program history, and third in the last four years. 

Liam Pauls (12 kills), Riley Grusing (11), and Tom Friesen and Phillip Lauter (10 each) all tallied double-digit scores for Brandon. Pauls added three aces and both he and Grusing had five digs apiece, while Lauter recorded nine block assists and a .588 efficiency to take home Championship MVP honours of the 2025 U SPORTS Men's Volleyball Championship. J.J. Love rounded things out with seven digs and 40 assists.  

Two-time U SPORTS Player of the Year Isaac Heslinga was a force for Alberta, with 25 kills and eight digs, while Liam Espedido and Trent Cherewaty each had nine kills, with Cherewaty tallying a .900 efficiency. Luke Weddell chipped in eight digs and 42 assists. 

After trailing 6-1 in the first set, Brandon went on a run to tie the first at 10-10, before pulling ahead to take the set 25-20. Alberta was held to just seven kills and a .042 attack % in the opener. 

The second set was the best of the match, as neither team led by more than 3 for it's entirety. Alberta had 17 kills in the second, eight of which from Heslinga, with a late run tying the match 1-1 with a 25-22 Bears win. 

The Brandon defence was the story over the third and fourth sets, completely shifting momentum in their favour. Brandon had 12 blocks through three sets, including one on set point to steal the third. Heslinga had 20 of his 25 kills through three, but the Bears were missing a second efficient attacker throughout the final. 

Brandon had five blocks early in the fourth, taking the wind out of the Bears sails. A Heslinga error on match point gave Brandon the fourth set 25-17, and the match 3-1. 

Championship MVP
Phillip Lauter

Championship All-Star Team

Jonathan Portelance, Sherbrooke
Emmett Graham, Saskatchewan
Isaac Heslinga, Alberta
Trent Cherewaty, Alberta
Phillip Lauter, Brandon
Liam Pauls, Brandon

R.W. Pugh Fair Play Award
Windsor Lancers