Lefebvre excited for future with young BU corps

Rookies seldom see the floor in glamorous fashion, and Matt Lefebvre has no issue with that.

The Prince Albert, Sask., product will take whatever opportunity he’s given with the Brandon University Bobcats, even if it means playing setter on offence and middle blocker on defence.

The six-foot-five setter did it with Team Saskatchewan at the Canada Games at times this summer.

“It was really hard. Being a middle blocker is probably the hardest skill in volleyball, reading … and closing the block. It was a big learning curve, obviously, but I trust my coaching to keep me prepared and I trust my ability to be an effective middle blocker,” Lefebvre said.

“I’m ready to fully invest. I want to get some time in my first year, obviously, I think anybody would, so I’m ready to go all-in here.”

The Bobcats opened their pre-season with a match against the Saskatchewan Huskies that ended after deadline on Thursday.

They return to action at the Healthy Living Centre today against the Winnipeg Wesmen at 5:30 p.m.

While the Bobcats will most likely turn to under-21 national team setter Kale Fisher to run the offence, at least to start the Canada West season, head coach Grant Wilson hasn’t been afraid of unconventional tactics with players coming off the bench.

He threw Fisher in as a serving sub while starting setter JJ Love was in the front row last year, and had Love attack occasionally to keep teams guessing late in sets.

The Bobcats are thin at middle blocker now, as neither veteran Chris Bryant nor rookie Kash Meyers reported to training camp due to personal reasons.

With Philipp Lauter graduating, the Bobcats are left with Riley Brunet and Matthew Siebenga as players with any match experience at the position.

There’s a chance Lefebvre’s skill set puts him on the court sooner rather than later.

“I kind of joked that it might come in handy. Here we are, it might come in handy. His versatility that way will give us an option if need be,” Wilson said.

“Any time you can do something that teams question what’s going on, that’s a good thing. Sometimes teams become a little predictable, and when you do throw in a wrinkle here or there, it can change the way teams think and kind of freezes them, for a short period of time, anyway.”

Ultimately, Lefebvre wants to play his regular position. Lefebvre has the third-year Fisher and second-year Keon Torz to compete with, and the trio has been hard at work with Wilson at setter-specific sessions.

Lefebvre said those have already cleaned up his game a bit.

“One thing for me is the quickness of my hands,” he said. “I got a little bit complacent with the speed of my hands and it’s just keeping myself in line and firing the ball quick because these guys can hit a lot quicker ball than what I’m used to.”

If Lefebvre is BU’s setter for the future, he’ll have plenty to look forward to. The Bobcats have under-19 national team attackers in Brandon’s Ethan Baraniuk and class of 2026 outside hitter Mason Lange, as well as Dauphin standout Gabe Beaudin, ready to take over by the end of the decade.

“I’m pumped,” Lefebvre said. “This is a really special class, and even next year for Mason and Gabe coming in, we’ll have a pretty special group.

“We played with each other in the alumni game and it felt like second nature.”

» tfriesen@brandonsun.com

» Instagram: @thomasfriesen5