Ball relishes bonus year in Brandon
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 10/02/2025 (297 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Kallie Ball made the best of the disappointing news she received last year.
The Brandon University Bobcat hoped to leave early for dentistry school, but returned for one more year of Canada West volleyball when she wasn’t accepted. So she came back and had the best individual season of her career.
The Calgary native has 55 kills, 13 aces and 78 digs, all career highs by a long shot.
Kallie Ball played her last match at the Healthy Living Centre on Saturday as the Brandon University Bobcats lost 3-1 to the Winnipeg Wesmen in Canada West women's volleyball action. (Thomas Friesen/The Brandon Sun)
“I’m really glad, honestly,” Ball said following BU’s 3-1 (25-19, 25-22, 22-25, 25-18) loss to the Winnipeg Wesmen at the Healthy Living Centre on Saturday.
“Last year, I didn’t quite feel fulfilled with what I was doing here and now I can be done and I’m happy with what I’ve done here and what I’ve accomplished.
“I can close this door being a lot happier than I was last year.”
She’s set to graduate from BU this spring and has already interviewed with dentistry programs in the United States, hoping for good news in the next few months.
Before the match, the Bobcats recognized Burgar for her five years with the team. Ball had her senior night last year as she wasn’t sure if she’d return, but was happy to see her teammate in the spotlight.
“She’s been a leader since the day she walked into this gym and I think she’s grown more and more into that role every single year,” Ball said.
“This year being her last year, she did everything she could to make every girl feel welcome in this gym and every girl feel part of the team.
“She’s a role model every girl … on this team and every girl in the stands looks up to.”
The Wesmen (8-10) wasted little time pulling ahead 8-3 on four Avery Burgar errors. While the Bobcats (2-16) settled in and only allowed one string of three points in a row afterward, they didn’t defend well enough to dig out of the hole.
BU kept pace in the second set, erasing an early deficit and tying it 9-9. They reached 21-21, but U of W managed to steal a pair of points on solid serves by Brandonite Ella Werbiski and Russell native Emily Lavallee to pull ahead 2-0.
Senior night appeared destined for a disappointing end when the Wesmen opened up a 19-14 advantage in the third, but the Bobcats refused to go down easy.
Cassidy Hauta served one tricky floater after another and her teammates defended not only well enough to attack but to get middle blocker Nerissa Dyer rolling with three kills in a row on a six-point run to take the lead.
Dyer added a cross-court cut to bring up set point and a deep tip to seal it and send it to the fourth — her sixth kill of the frame.
“It shows a lot of growth in this team. In the past, we would have maybe given up or given in to what people are saying around us, that the game will just be over quick,” Ball said.
“We had that little extra drive today. We’re down really bad and Georgia (Johnson) comes in for me, I know I haven’t been doing as well offensively as she has. I was so proud of her to go in and bring us back, Cass with a serving run, me with a couple of serves, it was a team effort.”
The Bobcats kept the fourth set close for a while, but down 16-15, started piling up mistakes and didn’t stop as the Wesmen enjoyed a 9-3 run to close it out.
Burgar finished with 15 kills and 12 errors for BU while Dyer had eight kills and one error, hitting a team-high .467.
Werbiski put up 14 kills and five errors, with Lavallee adding eight and two. Brooke Duncalfe led all scorers with 19 kills, three aces and a block.
The Bobcats head to Kamloops, B.C., to visit the Thompson Rivers WolfPack this Friday and Saturday to close the regular season.
When it’s over, they’ll watch the playoffs from afar and smile a little bit if the Fraser Valley Cascades make a deep run. Because as good as they are, the Bobcats were better on one cold, dark Prairie night in January.
BU’s 3-2 win over then the No. 2-ranked team in Canada is one Ball will remember “forever.”
“Everybody has a lot of memories about playing,” she said, “but there’s something about a big win with your teammates like that, that never really leaves your memory.”
» tfriesen@brandonsun.com
» Instagram: @thomasfriesen5