Bevan, Bobcats ready for rival Bisons

Cooper Bevan has seen the potential of his young Brandon University Bobcats corps to be great in the future.

He’s trying to get there as fast as possible.

Six matches into the Canada West men’s volleyball season, the Australian junior national team libero has started six more matches than most rookies would and put himself through more extra sessions than some athletes do all year.

Bevan and the Bobcats (3-3) are looking to keep their home regular-season record perfect tonight as the Manitoba Bisons (2-4) visit the Healthy Living Centre at 7:45 p.m.

“It’s been awesome. It’s been really good. The first six games have honestly flown by,” Bevan said after practice on Thursday.

“I already feel at this point in the season, as a first-year, I’ve learned so much already. It’s been really incredible. The jump of volleyball hasn’t been that big, but the atmosphere, the style, and the professionalism of the team are awesome.”

Bevan had the luxury of playing internationally with Australia’s under-18 team before joining the Bobcats. But the dual citizen, who doesn’t count against Brandon’s two-import maximum, still had to get over the shock of how fast Canada West volleyball is.

“There definitely have been some eye-opening points, whether it’s a serve, a hit,” Bevan said.

“But there’s not much time to dwell on that, really. If you sit there and go, ‘Holy s…, this is really fast and really hard,’ that’s when you get caught.”

On Thursday, Bevan was the last one to leave the practice court after passing a few dozen extra balls from Aussie outside hitter Sam Chen.

The five-foot-nine libero doesn’t pass up on extra reps, regardless of how early he needs to wake up.

This fall, he’s been on the floor many mornings at 7 a.m., to work with assistant coach and former BU captain Brady Nault, who was the starting libero on Brandon’s Canada West championship team in 2019.

“He really understands passing and that’s what we work on in the mornings, the fine, technical things of passing. He helps us break it down,” Bevan said.

“A big thing for me is the precision of the platform and where it’s facing. Being able to have a real precise platform helps out.

“Every little angle, little inch your platform’s off, the ball will go so much further.”

The result is that Bevan has given up just 10 aces while being targeted 98 times in serve receive this year. He’s been a little shakier than starting outside hitters Liam Pauls and Tom Friesen, but the two seniors aren’t currently adjusting to a new league, school, and country.

“We know we’re asking a lot, but we feel like we’re not asking something he can’t handle. He’s come in and handled it as what I would call a true professional,” said Bobcats head coach Grant Wilson.

“He’s got a great attitude, he works so hard to improve his craft every day, and he’s always looking for suggestions to get better.

“He’s a team-first guy and we couldn’t ask any more of him.”

• • •

While Bevan joined the Bobcats at the perfect time for a young player looking for court time, outside hitter Ethan Baraniuk became another name on a loaded depth chart.

With Friesen and Pauls outside and Liam Kindle opposite, Baraniuk has already been on the bench more than the rest of his volleyball career combined. The six-foot-six Vincent Massey alum has six kills and eight errors through four matches played.

However, Baraniuk has welcomed the challenge and has every intention of growing his game to win at this level.

“It’s definitely new … coming off the bench, I’m kind of nervous,” Baraniuk said. “But especially as the season goes on, confidence starts to build. I’m way more confident than I was at the start of the season.

“Going into the season, I had no thought in my mind I was going to start, so coming to practice and putting the work in helps to get even closer.”

Wilson knows the importance of Baraniuk to the team’s future and has already seen flashes of it — signs he could be ready soon.

“The thing that stands out, which is no surprise to us, is his athletic potential. He can make some plays, especially at the net, that a lot of guys can’t,” Wilson said.

“With that said, he’s going to go through the ups and downs of being a rookie in this league and understanding what it takes to prepare mentally each day to play, to be focused and understand what his job is that day.”

This weekend, the Bobcats face one of the best 2-4 teams you’ll ever see. Manitoba has national-contender potential but dropped its first two matches at home to a veteran UBC Okanagan squad, then had to visit the No. 1-ranked team in Canada, dropping a pair to UBC.

The Bisons swept the Calgary Dinos to get back on track and may have figured out their best lineup.

“They’re loaded. They have size, they have skill, they have experience in all positions,” Wilson said. “They play hard and we expect it to be a massive challenge.

“They’re very good from the service line and put teams under a lot of pressure, and they put up a big block because they’re so big in all positions, so we know it’s going to be a big task, so we’re just looking to focus on us.”

Iranian opposite Karil Dadash Adeh can take over a match, as can Owen Weekes, a second six-foot-eight option at the pins for setter Alex Witt.

They have veteran middle blockers and a unique wrinkle in lefty outside Eric Ogaranko, plus one of the top liberos in the league in Josh Jehle.

The good news for the Bobcats is they have the clear-cut best attacker on the floor this weekend in Tom Friesen, who is averaging 3.62 kills per set, good for fourth in the conference, and a solid .348 hitting percentage.

They play after the BU women (0-6) take on the defending national champion Bisons (2-2) at 6 p.m., and are expecting a fight.

“Every team in the league has been a real challenge, really good,” Bevan said. “It’s not like you can have one game off.”

QUICK HITS: The teams play again on Saturday at 5 p.m. (women) and 6:45 p.m. (men) … BU’s basketball teams are off to Edmonton. They visit the Alberta Pandas and Golden Bears tonight and Saturday.

» tfriesen@brandonsun.com

» Instagram: @thomasfriesen5