The Warriors were without middle blocker Delano Thomas, who is expected to complete outstanding school work in two weeks; opposite hitter Matt Bender, who is suffering from tendinitis and bursitis in his left (non-swinging) shoulder, and outside hitter Lauri Hakala, who has a sprained left ankle. Middle blocker Jacob Schkud left after Game 1 because of a sore knee.

The 6-foot-3 Schkud "needs his hops and quickness to be effective," coach Mike Wilton said.

Outside hitter Matt Carere, who aggravated his sore back, was replaced in Game 3. "It kind of popped," said Carere, who suffered the injury during the summer. "I just have to rehab it."

The Bears, in the middle of their Canada West season, took advantage of a UH team that had practiced twice entering the exhibitions. The Bears' rotation alternated between jump and float servers. They tried to serve in the seams to anyone but outside hitter José José Delgado. "We tried to make (the other passers) go side to side or back to front," Alberta setter Brock Davidiuk said.

UH libero Alfred Reft said: "They did a good job of mixing it up. It's tough to pass when you have a mixture of jump serves. It's hard to get in a rhythm."

With UH setter Brian Beckwith scrambling to chase down passes, the Bears were able to plant their block. Alberta had 12.5 blocks; UH had two.

UH opposite hitter Pedro Azenha pounded 22 kills, a total of 53 for the two exhibitions. Wilton acknowledges his best attackers — Azenha and Bender, who will resume practicing Monday — play the same position. The opposite hitter is used as a primary passer in only one of the six rotations. Azenha is a better passer than Bender, but not as good as Delgado, Hakala or Carere. With Delgado and Carere combining for 12 kills and 14 errors yesterday, Wilton is looking to beef up the left-side attack. Playing Azenha and Bender at the same time is a possibility.

Wilton said he would like to craft a scheme to allow Azenha to attack as an opposite — 21 of his kills were launched from the right side — but serve as a primary passer in five rotations, enabling Bender to be a limited-passing outside hitter. "That notches up the firepower," Wilton said. "We don't know about ball control."