VB: Alberta sweeps preseason polls
Canada West season gets underway Friday night
VANCOUVER - The Alberta Pandas and Golden Bears are the coaches favourites to win the 2021-22 Canada West women's and men's volleyball titles, as the conference opens
The Alberta men's and women's teams finished atop the annual preseason poll, voted on by the conference's coaches.
On the women's side, the Alberta Pandas received five first-place votes and won a tight race for first in the poll with 158 total points.
Hot on the Pandas' heels were the Trinity Western Spartans. The two-time defending conference champions also received five first-place votes and garnered 155 total voting points. The Spartans edged out the UBC Thunderbirds, who also finished with 155 points, after collecting one more first-place nod than the Thunderbirds.
In the men's poll, Alberta racked up 134 points to finish in top spot. The Golden Bears received three first-place votes.
The defending champion Trinity Western Spartans received 124 voting points to take second spot, while the UBC Thunderbirds came in just behind the Spartans in third with 123 points.
The 2021-22 CW season opens Friday night with a pair of matches on the schedule in Winnipeg. The Winnipeg Wesmen host the Regina Cougars in women's action to begin the season, while the Brandon Bobcats are in town to take on the Wesmen's men's squad.
The rest of the conference gets their seasons underway next weekend, including the newest member of Canada West volleyball, the Fraser Valley Cascades. Stay tuned for a full team-by-team preview ahead of next weekend's matches.
Fans can watch every volleyball match this season on Canada West TV Presented by Co-op. Click here to purchase your volleyball sport pass, which gives you access to every regular season men's and women's game.
2021 CW WVB PRESEASON COACHES POLL
Team - Points (First-place votes)
- Alberta Pandas - 158 (5)
- Trinity Western Spartans - 155 (5)*
- UBC Thunderbirds - 155 (4)
- Mount Royal Cougars - 117
- UBCO Heat - 112
- Saskatchewan Huskies - 106
- Calgary Dinos - 101
- Thompson Rivers WolfPack - 79
- Brandon Bobcats - 68
- Manitoba Bisons - 67
- Regina Cougars - 60
- Winnipeg Wesmen - 54
- Fraser Valley Cascades - 25
- MacEwan Griffins - 17
NOTE: Coaches ranked all opponents 1-13. First-place votes worth 13 pts., second-place worth 12 pts. etc.
*TWU ranked second with a higher number of first place votes.
2021 CW MVB PRESEASON COACHES POLL
Team - Points (First-place votes)
- Alberta Golden Bears - 134 (3)
- Trinity Western Spartans - 124 (10)
- UBC Thunderbirds - 123
- Mount Royal Cougars - 91
- Calgary Dinos - 90
- Saskatchewan Huskies - 81
- Brandon Bobcats - 75
- Manitoba Bisons - 71
- Winnipeg Wesmen - 67
- UBCO Heat - 59
- Fraser Valley Cascades - 36
- Thompson Rivers WolfPack - 32
- MacEwan Griffins - 31
NOTE: Coaches ranked all opponents 1-12. First-place votes worth 12 pts., second-place worth 11 pts. etc.