Bobcats in thick of playoff push

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This article was published 21/12/2023 (742 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

In the least surprising twist that Canada West men’s volleyball fans could predict, the Brandon University Bobcats are in a jam-packed playoff push.

They sit 8-4, tied for third, one win back of first and one loss ahead of seventh. Eleven of the 13 teams are in the top-eight or within a match of it.

Brandon went 13-11 last year, good enough to get in, but not to avoid a bad mismatch on the road against Trinity Western. So head coach Grant Wilson knows a strong second-half push is paramount.

“Overall, pretty happy with where we’re sitting,” Wilson said. “Maybe it wasn’t exactly the road map to get there that we thought, but we found a way to put a string of games together that gave us some wins and put us in a position where we feel pretty good about where we are going into Term 2.”

LOOKING BACK

The Bobcats battled a few injuries in the pre-season and while their desired starting lineup was together on opening day, the Saskatchewan Huskies beat them twice.

The following weekend, Brandon hosted and stunned the defending conference champion Alberta Golden Bears in four sets before dropping a 3-0 decision in the rematch.

BU rattled off seven wins in eight matches after that, rolling over the Manitoba Bisons and MacEwan Griffins, splitting the nationally ranked Winnipeg Wesmen and sweeping the Fraser Valley Cascades in a pair of tight battles.

“Our lineup wasn’t ready going into that weekend (against Saskatchewan). We had a couple of guys that basically didn’t play in the pre-season due to injury and I threw them into the fire,” Wilson said. “I take full blame for how things worked out there.”

He added, “From there, it made us realize we’d have to look at potentially adjusting our roster, which is what we did.”

LINEUP LOCKS

None of those adjustments included the removal of setter J.J. Love or middle blockers Paycen Warkentin and Philipp Lauter from the lineup.

Fourth-year Jens Watt started at libero, but moved to left side and hasn’t left. He was there to stabilize BU’s passing and defence, but has impressed with his ability to score in and out of system. The Lethbridge, Alta., product posted 1.83 kills per set and a .278 hitting percentage.

It’s Love’s second year as the starter and Wilson said he’s more comfortable and confident this year, and taking more responsibility for his team’s offensive performance.

“He knows when I’m not happy, he knows when his hitters aren’t happy and he is fully open to taking responsibility in those situations,” Wilson said.

“If the hitter is making an error or the hitter isn’t scoring, you need to take responsibility. Whether it was a bad set or not, we want our hitters walking away feeling confident. If the setter is blaming the hitter, it’s not going to lead to confidence.”

Brandon’s offence doesn’t jump off the stats page for anything in particular. It’s near the bottom of Canada West with 10.37 kills per set and middle of the pack with a .238 hitting percentage.

Lauter and Warkentin are part of the reason — the ball doesn’t get to BU’s side enough for elite offensive numbers.

Brandon’s 143 blocks so far is the best mark in the nation and 3.04 blocks per set is more than one over the conference average.

“Those two guys take so much pride in their job and they are always trying to tweak their game to be better,” Wilson said.

“They do what they do and they’re just great athletes, they’re great at reading the game and we feel like we have a system in place that allows them to make good reads and be successful and so far so good. They’re top of the league for a reason.”

OPTIONS GALORE

Wilson knew this season would bring more competition for starting spots than any in recent memory.

Riley Grusing entered the year as the starting right side and projected go-to guy after two years as a redshirt.

He has been solid, but had a few off nights when Liam Kindle stepped in and dominated off the bench.

With Watt vacating the libero spot, rookie Kale Fisher has taken most of the reps with Michael Flor chipping in for some situations.

Tom Friesen led BU in kills last year, but battled a knee injury throughout the semester, so Liam Pauls and Sam Chen rotated through the other left-side spot.

Wilson said much of his rotation can change from night to night, and the key he’s looking for isn’t necessarily an electric scorer, server or defender.

He wants consistency. In past years, he’d simply let his starters grind through issues, but says he’s changed his approach.

“We have some pretty important people on the bench, people that can come in and impact the game,” he said.

“My leash is perhaps shorter than it has been in the past. I’m a little more willing to draw from the guys that are waiting for their opportunity and so far those opportunities have worked out pretty well.”

MOVING FORWARD

There’s no such thing as an easy semester in this league, though the Bobcats have already played most of the teams above .500.

They get back into action with the three-day Wesmen Classic starting on Dec. 28 in Winnipeg, taking on Laval, Dalhousie, Guelph and the University of New Brunswick.

They start the second semester at the University of Calgary (5-7) on Jan. 5 and 6.

Brandon gets an early bye before flying to Langley, B.C., to play the defending national champion Trinity Western (5-5).

The team then gets three weekends in a row at home against UBC Okanagan (1-11), Mount Royal (8-4) and Thompson Rivers (4-6) before closing the season at UBC (8-4) on Feb. 16 and 17.

At this rate, it would take at least 10 wins, if not 11 or 12 to make the playoffs and 16 or more to spend any of the post-season on home court.

“Eight wins isn’t going to cut it and we know that, but we feel like at least we’ve got eight and put ourselves in a position to get more,” Wilson said.

“We try not to focus too much on wins … our goal is to continue to get better, play one game at a time and live in the moment.”

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