Wesmen cap historic season with Canada West men’s volleyball title

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 08/03/2025 (248 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg Wesmen will head to the men’s volleyball national championship already feeling like champions.

The Wesmen authored what was perhaps their finest chapter in an already historic season for the program, as they powered past the Alberta Golden Bears to a 3-0 (25-20; 25-20; 25-21) victory to earn their first Canada West title before a raucous crowd of 1,500 at Duckworth Centre on Saturday.

“I’ve been playing this game for a while, and some goals just feel unattainable,” said captain Paxton Koop, who supplied three kills and three digs for the hosts.

“You know what, today we got it done. Crazy. Maybe in a couple of days I’ll be able to actually formulate what I’m feeling here. But right now, it’s great.”

The victory was nothing short of a statement from Winnipeg, facing the nationally ranked No. 1 Golden Bears. They left zero doubt that they are the top team in Canada West and will absolutely be a force at the U Sports championship, which goes March 21-23 in Brandon.

The Saskatchewan Huskies also clinched a berth after winning the bronze medal match 3-2 (22-25; 20-25; 25-18; 25-23; 15-12) over the UBC Thunderbirds earlier on Saturday.

“I have no words. I’m speechless. The guys played amazing. They did everything that I could’ve asked for and more,” said Wesmen interim head coach Chris Voth.

“We do a lot of preparation — physical and mental preparation — so it’s just really great to see the guys execute when it matters, and I couldn’t ask for anything more.”

Isaiah Olfert played like the team MVP, supplying a game-high 14 kills on the strength of an outstanding .542 hitting percentage.

In fact, it was a collective offensive clinic put on by Winnipeg, which hit .396 and totalled 45 kills.

Ben Traa had his choosing on offence while providing 30 assists. Luke Lodewyks had 11 kills, while Jaxon Rose chipped in with seven.

“I think UofW really showed up to win today,” said Golden Bears head coach Brock Davidiuk. “I think we showed up quite tentative, and that’s a tough way to start a match, so you’re swimming up stream. Even when we would get leads… Winnipeg was just coming at us the whole time and we didn’t have that kind of presence today, and that’s something that we need to take as a lesson out of it.”

The Wesmen also swept the Golden Bears 3-0 in a pre-season match back in September. It was the only time the two sides met prior to the gold medal match.

“We’ve proven to ourselves that we are a truly strong team in this league,” said Koop. “It’s tough to know until you play every single team, and Alberta is a great team and, fortunately, we got the better of them today, but in two weeks everything’s a different story.”

The Golden Bears had to rally without a couple of key pieces. Outside hitter Dylan Martens, who hails from Winnipeg, was in a walking boot after sustaining an injury in Friday’s semi-final match against UBC.

Meanwhile, Isaac Heslinga, the Canada West Player of the Year, left in the second set and did not return to the game, save for a two-point stretch late in third set. When Heslinga was in the match, the Wesmen limited the star hitter to just five kills.

Matt Shand and Liam Espedido led the Golden Bears in Heslinga’s absence, recording 10 kills each.

“Unbelievable,” Voth said of his team’s ability to limit Alberta’s big hitters. “(Heslinga) is a fantastic player. I’ve worked with him a couple of summers, and any ball that we can touch when he spikes is great. We touched a few balls, and that’s what made the difference.”

Winnipeg now turns its attention to the U Sports championship, where they will look to cap a sensational season with a national title. Although there is a two-week break in between Saturday’s triumph and the beginning of nationals, there is a belief that they can carry this winning feeling into the final stretch.

“Oh, 100 per cent,” said Rose. “I think the two weeks is going to be big for us. I think there’s a couple of things we can polish. I mean, a 3-0 victory is pretty astounding but there’s always things we can do better.

“So we’re gonna be in the lab this week. We’re gonna be working on stuff. We’re gonna come out swinging.”

Bisons win bronze in women’s volleyball

Raya Surinx hammered 25 kills and Katreena Bentley supplied 44 assists to power the Manitoba Bisons past the Saskatchewan Huskies in the conference championship’s bronze medal match at Saville Community Sports Centre in Edmonton.

The Bisons will be disappointed they did not repeat as conference champions in Alberta, but can hang their collective hat on a win heading into the U Sports championship that it’s hosting March 14-16 at Investors Group Athletic Centre.

Manitoba, which collectively hit an efficient .341 in the match, received another 10 kills from Andi Almonte, and eight apiece from Light Uchechukwu and Eve Catojo.

In the gold medal match, the Alberta Pandas defeated the UBC Thunderbirds 3-2 (25-23; 19-25; 25-22; 13-25; 15-13) to claim the Canada West banner.

Denbow defends national high jump title

Lara Denbow cleared the 1.75-metre bar to capture gold in the women’s high jump for the second straight year at the U Sports track and field championships in Windsor, Ont. Denbow’s Manitoba Bisons teammate, Madisson Lawrence, successfully cleared the same height, but was awarded silver as Denbow had taken less attempts to clear 1.72m.

Lawrence left nationals with three medals: a gold in heptathlon, a silver in high jump and a bronze in triple jump. Denbow and Lawrence accounted for all of the medals for the Bisons women at the meet.

Meanwhile, Dawson Mann ran 1:17.55 to win gold in the men’s 600m, improving on his bronze medal from last year, and Daxx Turner leaped 15.69m to win silver in the triple jump.

The men’s 4×400 relay (Keenan Allen, Noah Neves, Tyler Cox-Yestrau and Dawson Mann) capped their meet with bronze to bring their final collective medal count to seven — two gold, two silver and three bronze. The Bison men won bronze with 79 points in the team championship. Western and Guelph captured gold and silver, respectively.

joshua.frey-sam@freepress.mb.ca