EDMONTON - Matt Shand had a game-high 14 kills to help lift the Alberta Golden Bears to a 3-0 (26-24, 25-22, 25-23) victory over the Winnipeg Wesmen Friday night at the Saville Centre.

It was an uncharacteristically poor attacking night for the Bears, who hit just .160 as a team which falls well below their second-ranked season average of .322 coming in. They relied instead on a strong game from the service line with eight aces, albeit with 21 errors, and a strong blockline that did not allow Winnipeg to get anything going offensively. With the victory, the Bears break a three-game losing skid and move to 9-4 on the season, good for fourth in the Canada West.

The visitors did well to hold the potent Bears offence to such a tough result, but were unable to string any offence together themselves to take advantage. The sixth-best offence in the CW hit just .051 on the night, easily a season-low. Luke Lodewyks paced the squad with six kills, and added six digs as well. The Wesmen move to 8-7 on the year, which sits them in fifth place in the conference.

The Wesmen took an 11-7 lead to open the match up, forcing an early Alberta timeout that seemed to get the hosts back on track. However, the Wesmen would still hold an advantage for the majority of the set, until Kai Boettcher catapulted the Bears back into contention with his first two career CW service aces in a 5-1 Alberta run that tied the game up at 20. It would remain tied until two straight Alberta points in extras allowed them to squeak out a 26-24 opening set win. Matt Shand led all players with five kills for the Bears, while the Wesmen only had five kills as a team, relying more on a strong blockline that had six total blocks in the frame.

The second set was, to no surprise, another incredibly close contest. No team had held more than a two-point advantage when Luke Waddell served in a 19-19 game. The Bears would win the point, then go on a 5-3 mini-run to take the second set 25-22. Shand again was a difference maker, leading the team with five kills in the frame, while the Wesmen saw a spirited performance from Luke Lodewyks, who finished with four.

The Bears seemed to have the match locked up when they jumped to a 7-2 lead early in the third. However, the Wesmen battled back to a 16-14 deficit, which is when the Bears took control of the game and finished out a tight 25-23 set and game victory.

The teams return to action at 7PM tomorrow.