Bobcats open crucial home stand against Cascades

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This article was published 24/01/2025 (238 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

No one saw this coming.

If the Canada West men’s volleyball regular season ended today, the U Sports championship hosts would have to sit at home and watch three weeks of playoffs before welcoming the top seven teams in the nation rested, but rusted and far from ready to compete.

They need to change that soon, starting with tonight’s 6 o’clock clash with the Fraser Valley Cascades (6-8) to kick off a pivotal six-match home stand.

Sure, the Brandon University Bobcats had a tough schedule to start the season. Splitting UBC, Trinity Western and Alberta showed their potential. However, they’re coming off an agonizing weekend sweep by the Mount Royal Cougars, who drew level with them at 4-8.

“This group and our coaching staff … we hate to lose,” said captain JJ Love. “We want to get wins like every other team in the league. It didn’t go our way at Mount Royal and we let a couple of other ones slip away, but that’s in the past.

“We were hungry to keep working hard this week and we’re hopefully ready to go this weekend.”

Most of the sets were close, all three in their second match were decided by two points, but BU head coach Grant Wilson takes little comfort in that. He said the team simply wasn’t sharp enough on its first touch or in crunch time: after 20 points.

Brandon lost the key ones and now sits tied with Mount Royal for the 10th and final playoff spot, which currently would go to the Cougars via tiebreaker.

“It comes down to mindset. Are you confident in your skills and your choices to be aggressive? Are you not confident and look to a second choice or a third choice to be safe? To me, that’s not the way to play the game,” Wilson said.

“We’ve got to be ready to go for it, whether it’s the first point or the last point of the game … Trust that you can get the job done when something’s in front of you.”

What’s in front of the Bobcats tonight is what Wilson considers a top-four lineup in the league when healthy. Injuries have plagued the Cascades over the past few seasons but they look ready to go.

UFV swept Calgary last weekend with outside hitters Nimo Benne and Jonas Van Huizen combining for 65 kills and 77.5 total points in nine sets.

“Nimo can beat you from the service line, he can beat you front row or back row,” Wilson said.

“He’s such a powerful server and attacker. He’s looked healthier than he ever has and he’s looked really good doing what he’s doing.”

Love agrees, and will look to his most trusted weapon in senior middle blocker Philipp Lauter early and often if possible.

Lauter was the U Sports rookie of the year in 2022, posting a phenomenal .380 hitting percentage. His offensive numbers dipped as Brandon switched from setter Jake Fleming to Love the following year, but his defence picked up as he and Paycen Warkentin were the clear-cut top blocking tandem in Canada in 2023-24.

Now he’s putting it all together again, sitting sixth in Canada West at .352 on 83 kills and just 27 errors thus far. His resurgence is, to some degree, a product of more time with Love on the court, but Love said the biggest difference is their connection away from the game.

“Our relationship off the court has just grown. We’re really close, we get along, spend time off the court hanging out … talking volleyball, talking just life. I trust Phil that he’ll be in the right spot and he trusts me that I’ll deliver him the right ball in the right situation,” Love said.

“I want the best for Phil, Phil wants the best for me, we both want the best for this team … we know if it’s a bad set, it’s an open conversation. If it’s a bad attack error, open conversation. No hard feelings, we’re all there to get better.”

• • •

The Bobcats have switched match times for the rest of their home volleyball matches this term, in preparation for nationals as they’ve already determined they’ll play their quarterfinal at 6 p.m.

Wilson wanted his team to get comfortable with the earlier slot and adjustments of practice and meal times that come with it.

That means tonight’s women’s match starts no earlier than 7:45 p.m.

The Bobcats (1-11) are in tough against the second-place Cascades (11-1), who are looking to keep pace with the UBC Thunderbirds (12-0) and set up a final-weekend clash to determine home-court advantage for the post-season.

Saturday’s men’s match begins at 5 p.m., with the women following at 6:45.

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