BU set to begin national title defence

The last perk afforded to the defending U Sports men’s volleyball champions is now in the past.

The Brandon University Bobcats returned from their 10-day trip to Puerto Rico with two wins, four losses and some massive hurdles ahead if they wish to earn a trip back to nationals.

They’re 0-0, and are about to face the one team they couldn’t solve in four attempts in 2024-25.

BU plays the UBC Thunderbirds on Friday and Saturday in Vancouver to open the 2025-26 Canada West season.

“We’re excited to get going. It’s always a fun time of year to hit the court and start playing those meaningful games,” said Bobcats head coach Grant Wilson.

“Going to UBC, I’m sure they’re going to be hungry to prove that they were one of the best teams last year and are going to be again this year.

“We feel like if we play our best volleyball, we give ourselves a chance against anybody in this league and that’s all you can ask for.”

PRE-SEASON TUNEUP

Brandon had just two tournaments on its slate, since the Puerto Rico trip was a longer one.

It reached the final of its home tournament with wins over Saskatchewan, Winnipeg and Manitoba before falling to the Bisons in the final.

As the top-finishing U Sports team that applied, the Bobcats earned the right to represent Canada at the NORCECA Final Six tournament, which ended last weekend.

They swept Suriname, then lost to the eventual champion United States, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic before blanking Suriname in the fifth-place match.

While Wilson wanted to represent the country as well as possible, he knew rolling out his top seven every match wasn’t the best plan, health-wise or for development.

“It was a bit of a balancing act for sure, especially since we only had three middles,” Wilson said.

“We tried to play it somewhat like nationals in the sense of trying to play a consistent lineup three days in a row, then would make a pretty considerate change.

“Everybody got to see the floor at some point and overall it definitely helped bring our team together and have them headed in the right direction.”

BACK TO REALITY

Last season, the Bobcats played freely with the silver — or golden — lining of knowing they’d be three wins away from a national title come March 21.

They finished 10-10, good for sixth place and a bye to the quarterfinals, but lost the best-of-three series 2-0 to the T-Birds.

This year, they need a Canada West medal to earn a trip to nationals in Windsor, Ont.

And they’ve learned it’s more challenging without guys like JJ Love, Philipp Lauter, Riley Grusing and Michael Flor leading the way.

“To be good, you need to be consistent,” Wilson said. “We showed some really, really good flashes of volleyball there against really, really good opponents (in Puerto Rico). But those good opponents were able to maintain that more consistently than we were.

“For us, it’s going to be a little bit of a learning curve and it’s going to take some time for some guys more than others, perhaps, but we definitely need to find a more consistent level of play to be successful in the Canada West.”

POSITION BATTLES

The Bobcats return their top scorer from last year in Liam Pauls, who posted 220 kills and 83 errors for a .244 hitting percentage.

Tom Friesen is also back after another injury-riddled season. He was solid when healthy, hitting .189, but only appeared in 13 of 20 matches.

Grusing was second in team scoring with 202 kills, but a new opposite will have to fill the role. Wilson has played a few guys in the position, including a pair of Vincent Massey alumni in senior Liam Kindle and rookie Ethan Baraniuk.

Former Crocus Plainsmen Ryden Hargreaves has also seen time at both positions, and as the highest jumper on the team, could work his way into the lineup.

While Lauter graduated, the other starting middle blocker from the national final, Chris Bryant, isn’t playing this season. So Riley Brunet and Matthew Siebenga are as set as two players could be on this team.

Brunet put up 23 kills and six errors in limited court time last year, while Siebenga only played in one match but made the winning block, and has been terrific in the preseason.

Liberos Kingston Thomas and Cooper Bevan started the year as the two on Wilson’s rotation card, but the team’s best passer not already in the starting six will likely wear the alternate jersey regardless of their usual position.

Also, the man running the offence could change more often than usual.

Third-year Kale Fisher is the most experienced setter, but is competing with second-year Keon Torz and six-foot-five rookie Matt Lefebvre, who is more physical at the net.

“We said as a staff at the start of the year, we weren’t really sure what our starting lineup was going to look like because we have a lot of competition within the group. That hasn’t changed,” Wilson said.

“The younger guys have even, perhaps, bridged the gap more. So the starting lineup could change relatively depending on the day. That’s a good thing in terms of being able to have our guys push each other in practice … and make sure they’re mentally preparing to play consistent volleyball.

“We’ll probably see our team use different lineups throughout the year because of that.”

BALANCED SCHEDULE

The Bobcats have an early bye before their first home weekend on Oct. 31-Nov. 1 against the Mount Royal Cougars.

They visit the Saskatchewan Huskies the following weekend, then host the Manitoba Bisons on Nov. 14-15, and the UBC Okanagan Heat on Nov. 28-29 to round out the first semester.

Brandon visits Saskatchewan for an exhibition tournament to ring in the new year, then heads to Fraser Valley to resume conference play Jan. 9-10.

It hosts rival Trinity Western on Jan. 16-17, then takes a week off before visiting MacEwan, hosting Alberta on Feb. 6-7, and closing at Winnipeg on Feb. 13-14.

GOALS AND GROWTH

The Bobcats were average offensively and elite defensively last year. While their .225 hitting percentage as a team was 10th of 13, they led Canada West with 10.12 digs and 2.60 blocks per set.

Some of their offensive woes were due to serve receive, as they allowed a league-high 140 aces.

For Wilson, the biggest concerns lay elsewhere.

“We need to be a more consistent serving team. We got a couple of guys that were in the top statistically for serving but after our top two or three guys, we did not have the same service pressure we need as a group,” Wilson said.

“Ironically, probably blocking. We didn’t block as well as we would have liked and not as well as we blocked in our pre-season tournament. We definitely want to go back and revisit some things there, technically and tactically and give ourselves a better opportunity to score points with our block defence.”

They’ll have to improve and punch above their weight to return to nationals, but surely no one has forgotten what happened last time this team was given the slimmest of chances to do something great.

» tfriesen@brandonsun.com

» Instagram: @thomasfriesen5