BU YEAR-END REPORT: BU makes breakthrough, faces major losses

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This article was published 05/04/2022 (1437 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Brandon University Bobcats’ veteran corps had unfinished business worth staying through the COVID-19 pandemic to accomplish.

Four senior starters returned to lead a group loaded with first- and second-years, a few of whom would need to play critical roles in the Canada West women’s volleyball season.

With fifth-year captain Rayvn Wiebe leading the offence and earning a first-team all-star selection and libero Caitlin Le running the defence, the Bobcats posted their first winning record since 2016 at 9-7. They won their first Canada West playoff match in program history. And they can hope they set the program up for success as five starters move on.

“It was a fun year,” said head coach Lee Carter. “After last year of only doing small group, not allowed to block, some people went home and came back, the uncertainty of what was going to happen, just to be able to play and get a full season out was phenomenal. Then the rest of it is just gravy.

“It was great for our older athletes to be able to finish a really competitive season than have to end on what could have been a COVID-type season.”

We continue our Bobcats year-end reports with a women’s volleyball team that took a step in the right direction but changes more than any other BU roster this summer.

VETERAN PRESENCE

Wiebe led the way offensively with 3.56 kills per set and a .190 hitting percentage. Fourth-year Nicole Ashauer hit .150 while spending most of the season in the primary left side spot, which is beside the setter and means two out of three rotations the player is front row, the offence only has two attackers at the net.

Fifth-year setter Jamie Bain was the bona fide starter, putting up 8.68 assists per set with 26 kills, 131 digs, 21 aces and 17 blocks on the season.

Le had 3.43 digs per set, good for sixth in Canada West.

Brandon had the fifth-best record out of 14 teams while ranking in the bottom half of most stats.

Carter saw the seniors’ value going beyond the numbers.

“Our older group was very inclusive,” Carter said. “They made sure that whether you were a first-year, a redshirt or a sixth-year, you all felt valued. I thought that was a big thing on our team because people were working to get better … but for a common goal, not just themselves. The selfish part of the game just disappeared. People were playing hard for each other and I think that’s the culture we’ve been missing the last few years. It came back fast and hard.

“Rayvn Wiebe deserves a ton of credit. She was a very good human being that showed the younger athletes what it takes to be successful at this level, plus she was very caring and made sure people were fitting in, life was good, but yet demanding enough that ‘You need to be better at this moment.’”

Second-year middle blockers Danielle Dardis and Kaoane Loch started all season.

FIERCE RIVALRIES

The modified format for 2021-22 had Brandon play four matches against each of Saskatchewan (14-2), Regina (5-11), Winnipeg (6-10) and Manitoba (6-10).

The Bobcats went 1-3 against the Huskies, 3-1 against both provincial rivals and split 2-2 with the Cougars.

Few matches were blowouts. Save for three sweeps by Saskatchewan, just four went 3-0 with Brandon going 2-2 in those. The Bobcats were 5-1 in fifth sets in the regular season. Interestingly, BU got clobbered in the third or fourth set of most of those before bouncing back to win.

“(For) our young athletes, I hope the takeaway from this year is preparation,” Carter said. “It doesn’t matter who you’re playing against on the other side, you need to be prepared. On paper, we should be better than Regina, yet Regina battled us hard and if we’re not prepared, they’re going to win that match.”

“… The second thing they learned is you’re never out of it. The great part about volleyball is it restarts at zero the next set. No matter what happened the set before … you need to learn really fast and move forward.”

Brandon won five of its last seven matches, including three straight against the Wesmen to win the battle for second place in the East Division. Le missed most of that stretch, out with a knee injury suffered against Manitoba on Feb. 11 that she never returned from. On paper, it was the best spot for the first round of the playoffs as the Huskies had to play talented Mount Royal and UBC Okanagan squads that beat them on their home court.

SHORT-LIVED POST-SEASON

BU drew top-ranked Trinity Western but had quite winnable matches against Calgary and Fraser Valley.

Brandon played Calgary first, overcoming a 2-1 deficit to win 20-18 in the fifth set of a two-and-a-half-hour marathon. The Cascades, on the other hand, were washed away in three snappy sets at TWU. They came back fresh and downed the Bobcats in four sets in their home gym as TWU’s home Langley Events Centre was booked up with B.C. high school basketball provincials.

The Bobcats were understandably frustrated having to play a fourth seed with unearned home-court advantage, which UFV took advantage of by winning the serve-and-pass game handily.

Brandon had to beat Trinity Western to stay alive and led 15-10 to start the match before the Spartans came alive and swept them to end their season. Three teams finished tied at 1-2 and BU was eliminated due to sets won/lost.

It turned out all five East teams were ousted in the second round.

Carter felt it was a good experience for the group moving forward.

“It was good. The whole weekend was super stressful,” he said. “It’s like being at a national championship because you’re prepping for the next team right away. You don’t really have time to celebrate (a win), that’s more of an off-season kind of thing. I think we ran out of gas against Fraser Valley.

“… The format was kind of fun, it’s just the reality of playing in U Sports.”

ROOKIES ON A ROLL

Keely Anderson led a promising young group, featuring in 14 matches and finishing second on the team with 2.06 kills per set. The rookie right side was a little wild as her 99 kills and 55 errors amounted to a .138 hitting percentage, but she added 28 aces, including a BU record nine in one match.

Taryn Hannah started on opening weekend after Ashauer suffered an ankle injury in practice earlier that week. The six-foot-one outside hitter calmly posted eight kills with three errors and 13 digs, then had a career-high 12 kills in a win over Regina two weeks later. Avery Burgar also appeared in 14 matches, playing 29 sets, usually in relief of starting outsides.

And Vincent Massey product Brianne Stott took over for Le at libero with three double-digit dig performances.

“They were great. I look at our lineup moving forward and I’m really happy,” Carter said. “I’m super confident. Keely Anderson is going to be an all-star in this league for a long time if she stays healthy and stays in shape. Taryn Hannah came in and just played so well in all the games she played in. She did what she needed to do as a pure first-year. Same thing (with) Avery, we were able to use her in spurts for some points.”

Carter noted the return to a regular conference schedule with longer road trips is something the young corps needs to get used to still.

MOVING FORWARD

Loch doesn’t plan to return, so five starting jobs are available.

Brandon has Alexa Shoults entering her fourth year at setter with Tielle Hagel and recent commit Carly Thomson transferring from a year in the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference.

Anderson, Burger and Hannah can already compete at the U Sports level when sharp. The Bobcats also have three more outsides on the roster and three in the 2022 rookie class.

Dardis and Camryn Hildebrand will have more support in the middle with UBC transfer Marly Pellerin — a former Neelin Spartans star — and newcomers Megan Pickford and Barbados product Nerissa Dyer.

“We’re still in a developmental spot. These girls are going to play hard and we’re going to win a lot of games because they play hard,” Carter said. “We’re still a little bit away experience-wise to beat a fully fifth-year team. We’re way more athletic, higher, and bigger than we’ve been in a while. But U of A loses a bunch of players but they retool, the next bunch of girls up are the exact same … UBC struggled against Mount Royal, subbed in their first-year athlete and she dominated the match.”

“We’re going to be super competitive,” Carter added. “I think people really have to prepare for us because of how athletic we are. I think it’s going to be a fun year to be a part of it but there’s still learning. There’s still a lot to learn about being able to play at this level and being able to do it consistently.”

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