EDMONTON - The sixth annual Husky Energy Can-Am Challenge came to a close on Saturday (10/11/03) night as the University of Alberta downed Brigham Young University (BYU) 3-1 in the Main Gym in Edmonton. The win was somewhat hollow, as the NCAA had already won the Can-Am Challenge, winning 10 matches to six over their CIS opponents. With the NCAA win the all-time series record now stands at 4-2 in favour of Canadian Interuniversity Sport teams.

In other day three action, Long Beach State (LBS) defeated Alberta in three straight, while CW rivals Manitoba defeated LBS in three straight, but lost to BYU in four sets. Montreal Les Carabins lost both games today, first losing to BYU before taking PepU to five games and eventually losing three sets to two. The Sask. Huskies also went 1-1 on the day, defeating University of California-Irvine in three straight and then losing to PepU in four sets.

The Pepperdine University Wave proved to be the class of the tournament, posting a perfect 4-0 record over Canadian universities, including last night's 3-1-marathon victory over the Golden Bears. The Wave, thanks to their impeccable win/loss record also captured the Best American Team Award.

Long Beach State put the second best numbers on the weekend, winning three of their four games. The Bears lost three straight to Long Beach in action today in the Main Gym.

The University of California-Irvine Anteaters and Brigham Young University Cougars each put together 2-2 weekends. Alberta beat both of these teams, downing the Anteaters in three straight on Thursday night and defeating BYU in the tournaments last game.

The University of Manitoba Bisons were awarded the Best Canadian Team Award as they finished the Can-Am Challenge with a 2-2 showing. Alberta and the Saskatchewan Huskies also finished with 2-2 records, however the Bisons and Huskies remain tied because of identical set scores of 7-6, while the Bears managed a 7-7 set score. Manitoba came out on top of Saskatchewan because the Bisons managed wins against teams that the Huskies lost to.

The Bears begin Canada West conference play November 7 in Calgary against the Dinos. Last year the Bears almost went the National distance, claiming silver in the CIS Championships, losing out to Manitoba. Alberta is rebuilding this year after losing 5th year players Pascal Cardinal, Sandy Henderson, Brad Bell and Ryan Taylor. Before conference play begins Alberta travels to Quebec for a pair of games against University Montreal and Laval University on October 22 and 26 respectively.

Matt Gutsch, Sports Information Assistant, University of Alberta