Bobcats begin pursuit of first national title on home court

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This article was published 16/10/2024 (536 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Three things are certain for the Brandon University Bobcats this season.

The U Sports men’s volleyball championship takes place at the Healthy Living Centre.

The Bobcats have an automatic spot as hosts.

They have a ton of work to do if they wish to compete that weekend.

All that matters is how good BU can be for three days in March, but what they do over the next five months is no less important than any other year.

If they take their free ticket to nationals and coast, their opening match will be the most highly anticipated letdown in program history as a beast from the east picks them apart.

But if they play like they need to earn a spot, they’ll improve a whole lot more. And if they indeed secure one of Canada West’s three berths, they’ll draw a much more favourable path to the Tantramar Trophy, which has narrowly eluded them on four trips to nationals.

TOUGH SCHEDULE

The journey to the Wheat City begins Friday for most teams, though BU and four other conference opponents have the first weekend of the regular season off.

So the Bobcats, Thompson Rivers WolfPack, Saskatchewan Huskies and Mount Royal Cougars are connecting for the “Bye Team Cup” in Calgary this week for one last tuneup. BU plays TRU today at 9 p.m. CDT, then MRU Friday at 8 p.m., and Saskatchewan on Saturday at 2 p.m.

Then Brandon enters the gauntlet, visiting perennial contenders in Trinity Western and UBC — the Bobcats will stay in British Columbia in between.

Its home opener is against Saskatchewan on Nov. 8-9. The Bobcats visit the Manitoba Bisons and host the defending conference and national champion Alberta Golden Bears on Nov. 29-30.

“It’s a great schedule, in my opinion,” said Bobcats head coach Grant Wilson.

“We know we have opportunities for us ahead at the end of the season so we need to gauge where we are now, what we need to work on and how we can be our best in March — no better way than starting on the road against arguably two of the top teams in the nation.

“When you look at our schedule from now until Christmas, we probably play the top five teams in our conference. I like that … Hard to say what our record will be or where we will be in the standings at that point in time but … we’ll certainly be battle-tested come Term 2.”

The Bobcats head to California after Christmas to play Concordia University-Irvine, the University of California-Irvine and Vanguard University, before going straight to Mount Royal to resume regular season play Jan. 9-10.

They have a bye week before three consecutive home weekends against Fraser Valley (Jan. 24-25), Calgary (Jan. 31-Feb. 1) and Winnipeg (Feb. 7-8).

The regular season ends at TRU on Feb. 14-15.

If it sounds tough, that’s because it is.

Canada West shortened the schedule to 20 matches from 24, removing one trip and one home weekend from each team’s slate.

Brandon drew the short straw as it won’t see last year’s weakest teams in the MacEwan Griffins and UBC Okanagan Heat.

“It’s totally out of our control. We don’t make the schedule, we don’t have any say in it,” said co-captain JJ Love.

“We try to focus on getting better. Yeah, it’s going to be a gauntlet and we face the best teams but we’re excited to play.

“If we play against the best teams, it’s going to hopefully bring out the best in us and we keep getting better.”

The second tweak was adding two teams to the playoffs, so 10 of 13 make it with the No. 7 seed hosting No. 10 and No. 8 hosting No. 9 on the Feb. 21 weekend in best-of-three series.

The quarterfinals are still best-of-threes, with a final-four weekend starting March 7 on the top remaining team’s home court.

“I’m really glad they included the extra teams because of the way the schedule’s made,” Wilson said.

“This will hopefully avoid somebody missing the playoffs because of their schedule It will allow a little bit of wiggle room there and it will allow the teams that take advantage of their schedule to benefit, potentially get a better matchup or get some rest.”

Canada West has three nationals berths plus BU’s automatic spot for the event running March 21-23, however, if Brandon finishes in the top three, the extra one goes to the RSEQ’s runner-up. Ontario has the other three.

Also of note, the national championship will not feature any intra-conference matchups in the quarterfinals.

VETERAN PRESENCE

This Bobcat lineup can potentially beat anyone, with seniors at every position.

It starts with Love, the fourth-year setter from Dauphin. At six-foot-seven, he’s one of — if not the top blocking and scoring setter in the nation and closing the gap on other important skills for a setter, like setting.

“He still continues to get better. We knew he was going to be a work in progress right from Day 1 and he’s one of those guys that does everything he can to be at his best,” Wilson said.

“His setting is definitely more consistent, his decision-making is becoming consistent as well and he’s really starting to get an understanding as to how to run our offence.

“His back row defence is underrated in my opinion … he gets to a lot of tips and rolls other people don’t get to. He’s our quarterback and a guy we need to be successful.”

Next is German import Philipp Lauter, who transferred from the NCAA ranks in 2020 and will play his final season at BU.

He was the U Sports rookie of the year with off-the-charts attacking numbers for a middle blocker in 2021-22 but hasn’t quite hit the peaks he did with setter Jake Fleming when he ran more routes than a UPS driver to keep defenders guessing wrong.

He recorded 161 kills and 51 errors for a .324 hitting percentage — up from .201 the previous season but not quite at his staggering .362 the one before — adding a massive 128 blocks.

“He’s back to being a real strong offensive threat like he was when he had that connection with Jake,” Wilson said.

“It’s taken him some time to connect with JJ and there’s certainly a difference hitting off a setter that’s 6-1, 6-2 compared to a setter that’s 6-7, just a timing difference. He’s tinkered with his approach … and they’ve made a really good connection now.”

Fifth-year right side Riley Grusing is back, sharper than last year at this time. He took two redshirt years so he could be eligible for the nationals run after transferring from the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology.

He had a team-high 214 kills but also made 132 errors for the second-lowest hitting percentage on the team at .145.

He’s battling some shoulder and back issues, so Wilson’s trying to find the sweet spot of keeping his development on track without risking the Alberta native’s health.

The same goes for fourth-year left side Tom Friesen, who was in and out of the lineup with a nagging knee injury most of the 2023-24 campaign.

The six-foot-six Reinfeld native recorded just 83 kills after 247 the year before, but led all BU outside hitters at .252.

To mitigate these and other potential injuries, BU invested in a set of belts that monitor the number, height and force generated by jumps during practices. According to current research, Wilson said a training session with around 100-150 jumps adequately simulates a match and nearing the 200-jump mark is likely overdoing it.

“Sometimes you just don’t realize how much you have guys doing in a training session, how hard it is on them and how it’s impacting them down the road,” Wilson said.

“It’s a good guide for us, it’s not the be-all, end-all but it’s another piece of education or another tool we can use to help make us better in the long term.”

The last senior in the lineup is Michael Flor, who plays the defensive libero role. Flor replaces the back-row middle blocker when BU is serving, while the other libero plays points the team is receiving.

The five-foot-five product of the Philippines — listed as from Carlyle, Sask., due to dual citizenship — is as scrappy a player as you’ll see in the league and coming into his own as a vocal leader on defence.

Liam Pauls is slated in the other left side position. The six-foot-five, third-year from Stonewall emerged as a starter in his second year and has the upside to lead the Bobcats offensively.

“That potential is there for sure,” Wilson said. “His serve is off-the-charts tough when he’s consistent. He’s serving north of 105 kilometres an hour on a regular basis so it’s a matter of maintaining consistency with that.

“Statistically he’s been one of our best passers, so it’s a matter of just finding his groove offensively and making good decisions based on the set, based on the block defence.”

GAPS TO FILL

One starting spot opened up this summer as Canada West all-rookie teamer Kale Fisher opted to strictly set this year, even if it means being Love’s backup.

So his former club teammate Jon Droppert, who saw scarce court time, appearing in just six sets, is stepping in. Droppert played with Fisher at Volleyball Canada’s National Excellence Program in 2022, then moved to Edmonton from St. Agatha, Ont., play for the Northern Alberta Volleyball Club with Fisher and Noah Rigney, who Wilson said is “on leave” from the team. Droppert will anchor the serve-receive group with Pauls and Friesen.

“Statistically, he was our best receiver last year that didn’t get playing time, so perhaps in hindsight that’s maybe a poor decision on my behalf that we didn’t give him more opportunity last year,” Wilson said.

“It was always in the back of our mind that he might be that guy, but we trusted the guys we had last year in those positions and went with them. This year, he’s earned the right and earned that trust from us to be that guy out there.”

The second middle spot is a true week-to-week battle between third-years Chris Bryant and Riley Brunet and rookie Matthew Siebenga.

The veterans only outweigh Siebenga in training reps as they’ve spent their entire Bobcat careers watching stars, most recently Lauter and Paycen Warkentin, who led the nation in blocking in 2023-24.

Whoever plays the role won’t see many attacking attempts, rather Wilson wants the best read blocker and server of the bunch on the floor.

“That’s what perhaps has made this pre-season even more interesting because there have been times where Riley, Chris and Matt have all been the best server in the particular game they’ve played in,” Wilson said.

NEXT MAN UP

Wilson feels this is as deep as his group has been in a while.

Of course, the middle position is simple if he needs to look beyond the starters, rotating through the aforementioned trio.

Senior outside hitter Liam Kindle, a Vincent Massey alum, came off the bench last year and produced massively on a few occasions, most notably on the right side for Grusing.

Former Crocus Plainsmen Ryden Hargreaves, who took some time off, then joined the Assiniboine College Cougars before transferring to BU, offers another physical option on the outside, while six-foot-three import Sam Chen offers a defence-first alternative at left side or a change of pace at libero.

Wilson said Fisher and rookie Keon Torz could both relieve Love, or jump in as a server or back-row defender.

“Keon might be the best defender on our team,” Wilson said.

“There’s still some positional battles going on as to who’s going to make game-day rosters. There’s going to be some guys that aren’t on the game-day roster that could potentially be playing significant minutes on another day.

“The message is, ‘Better come ready to play or somebody else is gonna be looking to take your spot. Be a good team guy and do whatever it takes that day to be the best team guy you can.’”

BY THE NUMBERS

The Bobcats went 16-8 last year, good for a four-way tie for third.

However, the points system implemented last year, which awards three for a three- or four-set win, two for a five-set victory and one for a 3-2 loss, saw Brandon fall to sixth.

BU lost its opening-round series to Trinity Western, making it five straight seasons the Spartans have squashed the Bobcats’ dream of a national title in post-season play.

Realistically, the Bobcats weren’t good enough. They had the seventh-ranked offence at .244, with Mount Royal and Alberta both over .300.

They hope Love can bring that number up, and he’s up for the challenge of figuring out how.

“All hitters are different, just finding what’s working best for them, we have so many guys that want a different ball and that’s totally OK,” he said. “That’s the fun part of being a setter, you gotta find what brings out the best in each hitter.

“Tom is going to be a fast ball but it’s at a higher contact point. He’s a longer guy, jumps high compared to a guy like Sam Chen, who’s a little bit smaller and still really fast and explosive and jumps through the ball. It’s going to be a little lower, almost a little faster to beat the block, so then he can power the ball through on a one-on-one.”

They led the league with 2.91 blocks per set and were sixth with 8.29 digs per set. Of course, the former makes the latter slightly harder to accumulate, but it’s an area Love sees as critical to success.

“Grant likes the defensive mindset, to have that chip on your shoulder and want to keep the ball up,” Love said. “That’s the biggest demoralizing thing you can do to a team. They’re going to bang that ball on a one-on-one and if you can get a touch on it … that’s just so frustrating as a hitter.”

QUICK HITS: During the two fall-semester home weekends, the men play Fridays at 7:45 p.m., following the women’s 6 o’clock starts. Saturdays the women’s first serve is at 5 p.m., with the men at 6:45 p.m. … They’ll flip for the second semester as the Bobcats are taking the 6 o’clock slot for their national quarterfinal and want to get used to an earlier pre-match routine.

» tfriesen@brandonsun.com

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