LANGLEY, British Columbia – The Canada West silver medalist Trinity Western Spartans will open the 2026 U SPORTS Women's Volleyball Championship against the Canada West bronze medalist and No. 5 seed UBC Thunderbirds at 6 p.m. (PT) Friday, March 13. The match will be a repeat of the Canada West semi-final, and the fourth meeting between the Spartans and Thunderbirds this season.
 
U SPORTS announced the seeding for the national championship on Sunday, which runs from Friday to Sunday at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C. 
 
The Canada West medalists, Alberta, TWU, and UBC, are all on the same side of the championship draw, with the Thompson Rivers WolfPack, the fourth-place Canada West team, on the opposite side.
 
Championship website
 
The complete field, in seeding order, is as follows:

• Alberta Pandas (CW champions, 18-3 regular season, 4-0 playoffs)
• Sherbrooke Vert et Or (RSEQ champions, 20-1, 4-1)
• Brock Badgers (OUA champions, 17-3, 3-0)
• Trinity Western Spartans (CW finalists/hosts, 15-5, 3-1)
• UBC Thunderbirds (CW bronze medallists, 17-3, 3-1)
• Saint Mary's Huskies (AUS champions, 10-10, 4-0)
• Thompson Rivers WolfPack (CW fourth place/host berth, 14-6, 2-3)
• Montréal Carabins (RSEQ finalists, 13-8, 2-3) 

 
In women's volleyball, the eight participating teams are seeded with the requirements that conference playoff results be respected, that conference champions be seeded no lower than No. 6, and that first-round conference matchups be avoided for the conference finalists. 
 
This is the second straight top seed for the Pandas, who finished third at last year's championship in Winnipeg. They are making their 27th appearance in the national tournament, while the UBC Thunderbirds qualified for the record 37th time. The Spartans are making their 13th appearance at the championship, with two titles, most recently in 2022. On the other end, Thompson Rivers will be making their national championship debut. 
 
The quarterfinals will be played on Friday, as follows: (all times Pacific)

• Noon: No. 7 Thompson Rivers vs. No. 2 Sherbrooke
• 2 p.m.: No. 6 Saint Mary's vs. No. 3 Brock
• 6 p.m.: No. 5 UBC at No. 4 Trinity Western
• 8 p.m.: No. 8 Montréal vs. No. 1 Alberta 

 
Consolation games will take place on Saturday at noon and 2 p.m., with the semifinals set for 6 and 8 p.m. Note that, in a departure from usual U SPORTS practice, the winners of the late quarterfinals on Friday will play at 6 p.m. on Saturday, with the winners of the first two quarterfinals following. On Sunday, the fifth-place game is set for 1 p.m., with the bronze medal game following at 3 p.m. and the championship at 6 p.m.  
 
Tickets for the championship are currently on sale at http://www.usportstickets.ca .
All 11 games of the championship will be streamed on CBC digital platforms in English and Radio-Canada digital platforms in French.
 
-TW-