The Brandon University Bobcats’ six-match winning streak came to a sudden end Saturday night in Winnipeg.
The host Winnipeg Wesmen (5-6) made 16 blocks as they swept the Bobcats men’s volleyball team 3-0 (31-29, 25-11, 29-27) in their first-half finale. Winnipeg held Canada West kills leader Sam Tuivai to eight kills and a -.067 hitting percentage in the match. Dan Boutwell also had eight kills and Roy Ching had nine for BU, with Boutwell and Brendan White both finishing the match with four blocks.
BU head coach Grant Wilson expected Winnipeg to play tough at home and admitted his squad just couldn’t match the Wesmen’s effort.
“It was just one of those things where we didn’t pass the ball really well and because of that our offence became pretty predictable,” he said.
“They did a pretty good job defending.”
The Bobcats (9-3), ranked sixth in the country, are now off for the Christmas break, but will play at a tournament in Calgary from Jan. 2-4.
Meanwhile, the BU women’s volleyball team continued to show its inconsistency as it fell 3-2 (25-21, 29-27, 10-25, 23-25, 15-10) to the host Wesmen (4-7). Shanlee McLennan led Brandon (5-7) with 15 kills and also had 21 digs. Chloe Reimer had 10 kills and 19 digs, while Meaghan Robertson added 10 kills for BU.
The loss drops the Bobcats out of the seventh and final playoff spot in Canada West. BU head coach Lee Carter admits his team’s confidence is very fragile and they’ll work on that with practices during the winter break.
“I love the fact that my team is super competitive and they’re going to do everything in their power over the holidays to get better,” he said.
“They’ve learned to work at a CIS and Canada West level. Our fitness level is great. Our understanding of training is really good. Now we just need to work on the mental side of the game and that will come.”
Both Bobcat teams resume their Canada West schedule on Jan. 10 at Trinity Western.
» cjaster@brandonsun.com
Republished from the Brandon Sun print edition December 3, 2012
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