League-leading Wesmen blast Bobcats

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This article was published 08/02/2025 (301 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Plan and prepare all you want, but the top team in the league plays like the top team in the league, it doesn’t matter.

The Winnipeg Wesmen beat the Brandon University Bobcats in nearly every facet on Friday, sweeping their Canada West men’s volleyball match 3-0 (25-20, 25-16, 25-22) at the Healthy Living Centre.

“They’re a really good team as their record shows. They’ve got incredible defence and a really good ability to just not make errors,” said Bobcats left side Tom Friesen.

“There’s lots of other teams in the league that have lots of firepower and are very physical but the thing that makes (the Wesmen) the toughest is it’s so tough to get momentum going. They just don’t give you free points, ever.

“They also have incredible defence. You think you get a kill and all of a sudden, it’s up.”

BU libero Sam Chen struggled to pass the ball early and U of W (15-2) picked on him, targeting his forearm passing on a five-point run to lead 6-4.

The Bobcats (7-10) stayed in it for a while by stymieing Isaiah Olfert, the Wesmen kill leader, keeping him to more errors than kills early in an 11-10 game.

But three different Bobcats erred at the net as Winnipeg pulled ahead 15-10 on a run of four.

The No. 2 team in the country didn’t need more help than that, staying ahead at least four the rest of the way as right side Luke Lodewyks knocked in five kills including the set sealer.

The second set was as clean as it gets on both sides, with the teams making a combined five total errors through 23 points.

But once again, the Wesmen made the big three-point run to pull ahead 15-11.

Wesmen libero Carson Brennan made the play of the night two points later, sliding to save a shanked pass and finding himself under a table against the back wall of the gym. Olfert made sure to put the ball away when he had the chance, ensuring the hustle play was worth it.

“That’s happened a lot of times,” Brennan said. “I was just always taught to never give up on a ball. I learned that a lot from my brothers and a lot of people I look up to, so I always chase everything down until it touches the floor.”

The Bobcats cracked again, as three of them made hitting errors to extend the Wesmen lead to 22-15, and four points later it was 2-0.

Brandon struggled to stay off the net while blocking early in the evening. That didn’t change in the second set and it continued into the third as BU fought to climb out of an early four-point hole. They cut it to 9-8 but didn’t tie it until 19-19, on a three-point run by serving sub Kale Fisher.

The second-year setter stayed in the back row so JJ Love could hit for a few points, keeping pace to 22-22.

But Lodewyks went back to work and the guy BU simply couldn’t solve all night added his 13th and match-high 14th kills to set up match point, when Riley Grusing was charged with his fourth error to go with a team-high 10 kills.

The Bobcats couldn’t get their middles going on offence — they combined for two kills and two errors — but Grusing and Liam Pauls were fantastic early in the set and Friesen, who came off the bench for Ryden Hargreaves in the second, carried BU back with three straight kills down the stretch.

Friesen finished with six kills and two errors while Pauls posted nine and four.

Two years ago, Friesen was the leading scorer for BU but has battled a nagging knee injury since 2023. He’s been playing sparingly but might see more time during the home stretch.

“The last couple of weeks physically I’ve been feeling great, it’s been good to get in for a few sets,” Friesen said. “But our other outsides have also been playing great. That’s why I haven’t been in.”

The Bobcats suddenly need to win out or most likely be done playing at home until the U Sports championship on March 21-23.

The Wesmen, on the other hand, are on track to host a quarterfinal, then the Canada West final four as the No. 1 seed.

That’d put them one win away from a return trip to the Wheat City for nationals as one of the top three teams in the conference.

This run has been years in the making and almost happened last year before they lost the bronze-medal match.

They’re a lot more than just a physical, talented group of athletes. They’re a group of men who’ve wanted this for a long time — and showed they wanted it more than the Bobcats on Friday.

“We have a very, very close group of guys right now who have for the most part been together for the last five years. A lot of us have lived together, a lot of us have played against each other since U14,” Brennan said.

“That is a huge part of our culture, a lot of grinders, a lot of guys that just want to work their asses off and that’s exactly what I love.”

The Bobcats and Wesmen meet again today at 5 p.m. Afterwards, BU will recognize seniors Philipp Lauter, Grusing and Michael Flor along with Avery Burgar of the women’s team.

QUICK HITS: Travis Hamberger nailed a go-ahead three-pointer with one second left as the BU men’s basketball team stunned Winnipeg 77-75 at the Duckworth Centre.

Hamberger finished with 16 points while Sultan Bhatti had a game-high 23. BU (5-12) is one game back of Regina (6-11), which fell 69-64 to Saskatchewan on Friday.

The BU women (2-15) lost 73-65 to the Wesmen (6-11). Piper Ingalls had a game-high 20 points on 8-for-25 shooting while Amaya McLeod added 15.

The teams meet again today before returning to the HLC next weekend against Saskatchewan for their last weekend doubleheaders of the regular season.

» tfriesen@brandonsun.com

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