Bisons sweep Bobcats in tourney final

The Brandon University Bobcats showed their future is bright this weekend.

Whether it’s this season or years down the road, though, is uncertain. The Bobcats ran through the Saskatchewan Huskies, Winnipeg Wesmen and Manitoba Bisons in round-robin play at their home men’s volleyball tournament this week as the teams mixed starters with second- and third-stringers.

In the final, when Brandon and Manitoba showcased more or less starting rotations, the Bisons delivered a 3-0 (25-16, 25-22, 25-19) thumping at the Healthy Living Centre on Sunday.

“I thought the boys played really well. I thought we obviously need to improve in some areas, but that’s what these tournaments are for,” said Bobcats setter Kale Fisher, who had 24 assists and four digs in the final.

“I think we know now, and overall, we had a good weekend, especially from our young guys.

“Manitoba’s a very strong team, they’re going to be very good this year … It’s a bit of a wakeup, showing that we gotta put some work in.”

Bobcats head coach Grant Wilson felt it was a productive weekend for the team, in that almost all of his guys saw significant court time.

He was certainly impressed with the resolve of a lineup featuring rookie setter Matt Lefebvre, liberos Kingston Thomas and Cooper Bevan, and outside hitter Ethan Baraniuk when they bounced back from a 2-0 deficit to beat Manitoba 3-0 on Saturday.

“There was no quit in their game. They found a way to battle back, even though at times it wasn’t pretty,” Wilson said.

“I thought our young guys did a tremendous job of putting up a great fight.

“I think it showed our young guys aren’t that far away from some of our older guys, and that’s going to make for some interesting positional battles ahead.”

The Bobcats are off to Puerto Rico on Friday for the NORCECA Final Six tournament. BU is representing Canada at the tournament as last year’s top-finishing U Sports team that applied for the opportunity.

The team opens the event on Oct. 6 against Cuba at 3 p.m. CDT.

The rest of their schedule is as follows:

• Oct. 7: vs. United States, 3 p.m.

• Oct. 8: vs. Mexico, 5 p.m.

• Oct. 9: vs. Puerto Rico, 7 p.m.

• Oct. 10: vs. Dominican Republic, 5 p.m.

The top four teams qualify for the semifinals on Oct. 11, with the final on Oct. 12 at 6 p.m.

Fisher, who represented Canada at the NORCECA under-21 continental championship in 2024 — and was named the event’s best setter — said the keys to playing a match a day for one week straight are preparation and recovery.

“That’s going to play a really key role,” Fisher said. “We’re not going to be feeling 100 per cent every single day, but neither are any of the other teams. We have to live with it and do our best with what we can.”

Fisher went back to the U21 squad last summer but wasn’t selected for the travel roster, so he’s excited to wear the Maple Leaf again next week.

“I feel like it’ll be an amazing experience to go with this group of boys,” Fisher said.

“We have a really good team chemistry this year. We have a lot of rookies this year but everyone’s been gelling really well. Getting to go with this group is going to be an incredible experience.”

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