BOX SCORE EDMONTON - Riding a four-game winning streak, the No.3 University of Alberta Golden Bears were put to the test as they extended it to five, picking up a hard-fought straight-sets win (25-23, 28-26, 25-18) against the University of Calgary Dinos, Friday night at Saville Community Sports Centre.

Third-years Ryley Barnes and John Goranson netted 11 and 10 kills, respectively, Goranson recording a stellar 67% attack percentage and zero errors on 15 attempts. Sophomore setter Brett Walsh had a game-high 36 assists.

Calgary kill leader Greg Mann put up a game-high 17 kills for the visitors while second-year setter Alex Cook earned 32 assists.

The Bears improve to 11-4, taking sole possession of second in the conference standings. Calgary goes to 8-7 on the season, putting them in a tight situation in the bottom half of the seven spots available for the playoffs.

A back-and-forth battle took place for most of the first set, the Bears managing to pull ahead by five late at 21-16 but Mann helped close the gap with two more of his game-high seven kills in the set and 6'10" Jovan Jankovic rattled off two aces to make it 24-23 before 6'9" Matt McCreary put a kill off the block to claim the 1-0 lead off the opening set.

The two squads made it another see-saw affair in the second set, the Bears finding themselves down 13-15 on the scoreboard before surging with a 7-0 run. The Dinos countered with an 8-1 run to make it anyone's game in the final points.

Tied at 26, Alberta head coach Terry Danyluk subbed in sophomore libero Reed May on the service line, seemingly changing the game up enough for Barnes to grab a kill off the block before McCreary's second solo block of the set put Alberta up by two sets.

A 6-0 run early in the third set made the difference for the Bears, giving the home team a five-point lead they would never fully relinquish, even though the Dinos and Mann continued to claw back whenever they could before Barnes and Goranson put up two kills apiece late to finalize the proceedings.

The provincial rivals will meet again for a rematch on Saturday night, game time at Saville Community Sports Centre going at 5:00 p.m. MT.