December 1 - Paced by Joel Schmuland and the team's 43 kills and five aces, the #1 ranked University of Alberta Golden Bears volleyball team put up a straight sets (25-12, 25-14 and 25-14) victory over the Manitoba Bisons, Saturday night in the U of A's Main Gym.

The win means a weekend sweep of the Bisons for the Bears, which improves their record to 9-1, while Manitoba, who is coached by first year man Phil Hudson, drop to 3-7 in Canada West play.

It wasn't just offence for the Bears as Terry Danyluk's crew threw up a wall defensively as well, with five players recording solo blocks and the team coming together to combine for another 12. Middles Adam Kaminski and Justin Merta led the defensive stand, each picking up a solo effort and three block assists.

Schmuland, who sits sixth in the Canada West in hitting percentage and fourth in kills per game, was at it again, this time pumping a team high 12 onto the Manitoba court. Thomas Jarmoc and Kaminski chipped in with eight and six kills respectively. Setters Brock Pehar and Mike DeRocco combined to spread out 37 assists with Pehar the captain throwing out 26 and DeRocco, the CIS rookie, pushing up 11.

Manitoba simply could not attain any momentum on Alberta and were constantly fighting from behind. The Bears took advantage of every opportunity created and with every kill or ace; simply put the Bisons into a deeper hole. John Galloway, Drew Venables and Derek Tyler all played well for the visitors, recording nine, five and five kills respectively but could not generate any offence beyond that. Venables also added 15 assists and the team's lone ace, while Ryan Munt, who is ninth in the Conference in digs, brought up six Alberta attacks to lead his team defensively.

Both teams will head into the Christmas exam break with neither team resuming Conference action until the January 4th-5th weekend of the New Year.

Complete statistics...