Pratt, Bobcats hungry after first win

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This article was published 28/11/2024 (493 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

As much as Brooklyn Pratt likes sharing, she’s digging her role this year.

The third-year libero spent last Canada West women’s volleyball season splitting time with Brianne Stott, but is the only one in the alternate jersey for the Brandon University Bobcats now.

“I definitely feel like I can get into more of a flow and stay more engaged, and be able to talk about more things on the court instead of having to rush off right after,” Pratt said at practice Wednesday, ahead of a weekend doubleheader against the Alberta Pandas (7-3).

The first serve at the Healthy Living Centre is scheduled for 6 p.m., with the men’s match to follow at 7:45 or later.

The Bobcats (1-7) are coming off their best weekend of the season, including their first victory — 3-1 over the Regina Cougars — and a five-set loss the following evening.

“We were pretty evenly matched on paper with them so it was more so just who came to play and wanted it more,” Pratt said of last Friday’s match.

“It felt really nice to come together and pull off a win for sure. It’s been tough after the losses so getting that win and proving to ourselves we can do it was a good confidence booster.”

The former Vincent Massey Viking played a key role as the team’s best passer on the floor according to BU’s unofficial stats — where the team rates each touch in serve receive on a three-point scale — and the official ones.

She handled 31 serves, conceding just one ace. It led to middle blocker Nerissa Dyer cracking double digits with 10 kills while Avery Burgar (12 kills), Cassidy Hauta (eight kills), Kallie Ball (seven kills) and Carly Thomson (39 assists, six kills) all enjoyed some of their best outings of the season.

“It was my best passing game, so it felt nice to be able to contribute as much as I could as a libero,” Pratt said.

“Libs don’t get that much recognition, which is fine. I’m usually just happy for the middles and whoever’s scoring good, to know I did help out.”

While Pratt didn’t play points BU served last year, she’s been solid as a defender, sitting 13th in Canada West with 2.59 digs per set. Her total for each of BU’s four match weekends has been higher than the previous one as she continues to read attackers better and keep points alive.

The Bobcats defence faces a tough test this weekend as the Pandas are currently hitting .258 this season, good for second in the conference.

Reigning national rookie of the year Abby Guezen leads the way with 117 kills, though she’s hitting .207 while drawing plenty of attention from opposing defences. Naturally, right side Laila Johnston (.324) and middle blockers Allie Moore (.385) and Ronnie Dickson (.294) are Alberta’s most efficient attackers thus far as it’s riding a seven-match winning streak.

“They’re a super physical team, they have a lot of big attackers, big blocks, tough servers. We’ll just have to try and control our side, do what we can, keep our serve pressure and try and pass our best against them,” Pratt said, adding her side is motivated to cap 2024 on a high note.

“There’s been a lot of … upsets in Canada West this year. It’s been proven that any team can do anything.”

NO. 1 GOLDEN BEARS

ROLL IN UNDEFEATED

The Bobcat men (3-5) are looking to hand the defending national champion Golden Bears (10-0) their first loss before the semester break.

Brandon took one off Alberta at home last season when hometown hero Liam Kindle subbed in down 1-0 and 22-18 and had an out-of-body experience. The Massey alum fired off five kills and a block to score six of BU’s next eight points and steal the set en route to a 3-1 triumph.

The Bears roared back the following night for a quick sweep, something they’ve done to every opponent they’ve faced this year. Alberta has taken six of seven sets on each of its five regular-season weekends.

“Looking forward to it. As always, Alberta is the measuring stick for volleyball in the country. They’ve got great talent, good size, great coaching, they have all the attributes of a defending national champion,” said Bobcats coach Grant Wilson.

“It’s something that shouldn’t take much for anybody to get fired up for and I know our guys are looking forward to the challenge.

“We’ve got to be great in all facets of the game. There’s just not a lot of wiggle room for error when you’re playing such a good opponent.”

Alberta features national player of the year Isaac Heslinga, who’s by far leading the conference at 4.86 kills per set and 170 total. He’s hitting a gaudy .447, topped only by setters, middle blockers and guys with extremely low volume thus far.

The other outside hitters, Jacob Sargent (.343) and Liam Espedido (.300), have also been sharp.

If last year’s Bears lacked one thing, it was size at setter with libero Sam Drybrough jumping back to the position he played in high school for his final year.

Now they have six-foot-five third-year Luke Weddell running the clear-cut top offence in Canada, hitting .383 overall.

On the other side, the Bobcats have endured a true gauntlet with most of the league’s top teams on the first-half slate. They picked up three splits and would love one more to avoid sliding below their current spot of eighth place.

Their offence has been underwhelming at just .219, but once again, last year’s best blocking team is leading Canada West with 2.42 blocks per set.

Philipp Lauter has made a resurgence up to a stout .351 with 57 kills and just 17 errors in the middle, while Chris Bryant has taken the other middle spot after Paycen Warkentin graduated and ran with it at a solid .246.

Liam Pauls and Riley Grusing have been the go-to guys on the outside, with 91 and 83 kills, respectively.

While the Bobcats are outmatched on paper, Wilson feels his team has the right mindset to take on a juggernaut today, and on Saturday when the men play at 6:45 p.m., following the 5 o’clock women’s match.

“We always feel we have the ability to compete with anybody and based on past experience we’ve proven we can compete with anybody when we’re playing well,” Wilson said.

“We don’t necessarily have the bull’s eye on our back. We can play loose, free and comfortable. If we can do that, we can certainly do some good things against any team in the country.”

“I wouldn’t call it must win, but I’d call it, ‘Must get better,’” he added. “It’s a chance for us to get better against one of the best teams and prove that we can compete with one of the best teams. If we want to be able to do that in March, that’s already started and needs to continue this weekend.

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