Thunderbirds sweep Bobcats out of men’s volleyball playoffs

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This article was published 28/02/2025 (203 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Brandon University Bobcats are now forced to hope rest prevails over rust.

They came out flat for a second straight night, falling 3-0 (25-21, 25-23, 25-17) to the UBC Thunderbirds in Vancouver late Friday.

UBC swept the Canada West men’s volleyball quarterfinal series 2-0, earning a trip to Winnipeg for the semifinals against the Alberta Golden Bears.

The top seed and host Wesmen face the winner of Saturday’s third match between Trinity Western and Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, with the three medallists earning trips to the Wheat City for the U Sports championship on March 21-23.

“The goal is to get better. We have the privilege of just focusing on ourselves for the next two to three weeks. We don’t have to worry about game planning … it’s just, ‘How are we going to get better?’” said Bobcats head coach Grant Wilson.

“From a mindset standpoint, I think it’s good we can just get dialled in on what we need to work on, trying to keep everybody fresh, healthy and in the right mindset and be ready to go come March 21.”

The Thunderbirds had 42 kills to the Bobcats’ 25, hitting .278 while holding BU to .169.

Riley Grusing led BU with eight kills and four errors while Gavin Moes had 15 and one for UBC.

The T-Birds came flying out of the gate, leading 11-3 before a block-filled JJ Love serving run brought the Bobcats within one.

BU picked up six blocks in the opening set but struggled in crunch time.

The second set was Brandon’s best of the weekend, and it should have had two set points. Up 23-22, Love painted the back line and even part of the court inside it, but his serve was called out before UBC took the next two points to lead 2-0.

The hosts poured it on from there, taking advantage of a few unforced errors to run away with the third.

“Our start in the first set was a little questionable, obviously. But after that, I thought we competed pretty well. We battled them point for point and gave them some pressure, which we didn’t the night before,” Wilson said.

“Unfortunately, we just made one or two costly errors in the first two sets and they made us pay. Third set, they pulled away a little bit late but all in all, definitely more pleased with our fight on the court.”

 

PATH TO BRANDON

A Canada West or Ontario University Athletics medal comes with a ticket to Brandon for nationals.

While all three CW spots are still up for grabs, Windsor and Queen’s have secured their spots by beating York and Western, respectively, in Friday’s semifinals.

They’ll play for the conference title in Windsor next weekend while the Lions host the Mustangs in the bronze-medal match for the last spot.

Also next weekend, Sherbrooke hosts Laval in the best-of-three RSEQ final series starting Friday and ending Sunday with one berth on the line.

If Sherbrooke wins, it will play Brandon in the quarterfinals as it’s currently ranked No. 3 in Canada behind Alberta and Winnipeg. If unranked Laval pulls off the upset, the most likely scenario is BU faces the OUA champion.

The four Canada West teams must be seeded in order of playoff finish and cannot meet in the first round.

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