QUEBEC CITY – The Bobcats beat the Alberta Golden Bears 3-2 (25-20, 25-20, 24-26, 18-25, 15-10) in the national semi-final on Saturday to book their spot in Sunday's championship final.
 
The Bobcats were pushed to the limit after having the opportunity to end it early.
 
Facing match point at 24-23 in the third, the Golden Bears fought back thanks to two massive points on a triple block and a kill from Taryq Sani.
 
Alberta used that momentum to take a 6-2 run in the middle of the fourth set, forcing an epic fifth set that delivered plenty of big moments.
 
The two teams were deadlocked at 8-8 in the fifth when fourth-year outside and Brandon product Seth Friesen took over.
 
Friesen registered three of his team-high 23 kills and two blocks to score the final five points for the Bobcats.
 
"We had that panic, fun and all that adrenaline. There was so much going on in my head. The key was to block it all out and just play," said Friesen.
 
Friesen's performance earned him player of the match honours, as his 23 kills came on 37 swings which included just three errors.
 
"There was some great blocking and Seth Friesen was amazing. He put the team on his back. It was just a great moment," said national player of the year Elliott Viles.
 
The Bobcats hit efficiently all night scoring at a .377 rate on offence.
 
Viles was second on the Bobcats with 15 kills while James Weir finished with 12 and Robin Baghdady had 11.
 
For the second day in a row Reece Dixon had a match-high 53 assists while Brady Nault also finished with a match high 13 digs.
 
The Brandon fans in attendance weren't large in numbers, but played a big role in lifting the spirit of the players on the floor.
 
"That was a battle and we knew it was going to be. We were not surprised. Alberta is one of the best teams in the country even though they happened to lose their Canada West quarterfinal. We knew they were too good, too physical and too well coached for it to come easy," said coach Grant Wilson following the match.
 
"We have good resilience. Guys are not going to throw in the towel and fight until the end."
 
The win sets up a rematch of the Canada West conference final in which the Bobcats beat the Trinity Western Spartans in an epic five-set thriller.

Sunday marks the second time the Bobcats have reached the national final. The first came in 2011 when the Bobcats brought home a silver, also against the host Spartans.
 
The championship final can be seen live for free at the Brandon University Harvest Hall (cafeteria) or online at www.usports.ca.
 
First serve is scheduled for 3 p.m. CST.