The Wesmen men’s and women’s volleyball teams took on two teams from the University of Alberta in Edmonton last weekend, each managing to come away with a win.

The U of A Women’s Pandas have a strong team this season and are ranked third in the country. They went into the weekend against the Wesmen with a record of 5-0.

The Wesmen women lost the first match 3-0 on Friday, Nov. 6, but they kept the sets close and never stopped fighting. Set scores were 25-17, 25-19 and 26-24.

The Wesmen trailed right from the beginning in the first two sets but came out strong in the third. When the first technical time out was called the Wesmen led 8-2, and at the second technical time out, they led 16-15.

The Pandas, refusing to give up, came back to win by two and took the match.

The following night, the Wesmen came to the gym determined to win. They picked apart the Pandas to steal the second match in four sets: 30-28, 16-25, 26-24, 26-24.  It was a huge win for the Wesmen, who are now 1-3 in regular season.

The Wesmen were lead by veterans Lauren Sears, Ariel Smith, Leah Brezinski and Alix Krahn, as well as rookies Sonia Rossy and Carleen Kruschel.

In the men’s matches, the Wesmen took on the top-ranked Alberta Golden Bears. The Wesmen started out the weekend strong, defeating the Golden Bears in five sets: 19-25, 25-22, 25-21, 23-25, 15-12.

Although they dropped the first set, the Wesmen turned it around in the second and third sets. The Golden Bears played well, winning the fourth set. They battled the Wesmen during the fifth set, but the Wesmen used their momentum from the second and third sets to take the final set by three.

The Golden Bears came out hungry on Saturday night and won the first set 26-24. Fighting back strong, the Wesmen won the second set 25-17, but lost the next two sets 25-19 and 25-22.

The Wesmen men were led by veterans Justin Duff, Andrew Town, Dan Lother, and rookie Matthew Schriemer.

Duff, reflecting on the weekend, said the team is playing well and although it would have been preferable to win both matches, to split with the No. 1-ranked team in the country while on the road is promising.

“It’s nice to know that our limitation is dictated only by what we do.”

Published in Volume 64, Number 11 of The Uniter (November 12, 2009)