First-place Cougars complete weekend sweep

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This article was published 05/02/2024 (591 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The good news for the Brandon University Bobcats is they don’t have to see the Mount Royal Cougars again for a while.

But if they do, the blueprint to beat them is still a mystery.

The first-place Cougars (16-6) delivered a 3-0 (25-23, 25-14, 25-19) beatdown at the Healthy Living Centre on Saturday, dropping the Bobcats to 13-7 and fifth in the Canada West men’s volleyball standings.

“Their blocking was really sound,” Bobcats head coach Grant Wilson said.

“We had a hard time finding ways to score from all areas. As soon as you start to pass the ball a little bit off the net, your offence becomes more predictable and easier for those blockers.

“The more the game went on and they would have leads, the more risk they would take with their serve and we were fighting it from the first touch. That’s what good teams do and full credit to them.”

The first set was neck and neck until Brandon benefited from a tough call and no-call back-to-back to lead 18-16. MRU got ahead 21-20 on an Evan Mah service error and Jacob van Geel ace on a three-point run.

The Bobcats then missed two serves and Philipp Lauter misfired six metres wide on an attack. Max Haronga aced Kale Fisher with a nasty sidespin serve to win by two.

The Bobcats became far too predictable early in the second, setting their outside hitters every time with big double blocks awaiting. MRU scored three points on defence, including one Jens Watt clearly touched as it went out, but the Bobcats spent more than a minute arguing, then three points dwelling on en route to their second 9-1 deficit of the weekend.

Warkentin explained BU’s argument was if the three officials on that side of the court didn’t see the touch off Watt, how did referee two (R2) on the other side?

“You try to fight for every point and that’s all I can say on that one,” Warkentin said.

The Cougars were on cruise control from there, holding BU to nine kills and seven errors while putting up 12 and three.

“I don’t know how much we were living in the past. It was one of those nights where not a lot was going right for us at times so when things compound we get frustrated,” Wilson said. “It’s easier to look at what’s going wrong as opposed to what we need to do to get things right.

“It snowballed on us and we’ve got to be more dialled into winning the next point and not worrying about what the officials are doing, what the other team’s doing and get focused on what we need to do to find success.”

Early in the third, BU lost a terrific Liam Pauls solo block to the officials being unable to spot the ball early in the third, but responded well this time and led 11-9.

Tied 14-14, veteran middle blocker Luis Lange pounded a kill after a great dig by libero Griffin Butler, then blocked Lauter and served a three-point run to lead 19-15.

Just like Friday’s deciding set, Brandon couldn’t stop Chris Byam, who powered down two kills between Bobcat errors late to complete the weekend sweep.

“When you play well you can play with and better than the best teams out there but as soon as you take your foot off the gas and let a few things go, allow teams to go on runs, especially good teams like them, they’re going to take full advantage,” Wilson said.

“They’re going to make you pay and that’s exactly what happened.

“We’ve got to learn to live in the moment, can’t get too high when things are going well or too low when things are going bad and deal with any adversity that comes our way.”

Pauls led BU with 11 kills, two errors, six digs and two blocks. Byam had a match-high 15 kills and four errors while Lange posted 10 kills and six blocks, triple what any Bobcat finished with.

MRU hit .292 and limited BU to .169. “They came to play and they’re a great team so you gotta give props where props are due,” Warkentin said.

“They have a lot of firepower so to stop them was going to be a tough challenge. This was a good learning experience for us. I think we can grow after this one and use this to light a little bit of a fire and push to the next week.”

The Bobcats host the Thompson Rivers WolfPack this Friday and Saturday. TRU (10-10) just split a pair of five-setters against Brandonites Reece Wilson and Max Paddock and the Fraser Valley Cascades (6-14), eliminating them from playoff contention.

The Bobcats close the season the following weekend at UBC (14-6). They can technically finish anywhere from first to ninth but likely need to win three of the last four to have a shot at hosting a quarterfinal.

» tfriesen@brandonsun.com

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