BU volleyball draws road-heavy start

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This article was published 16/06/2022 (1353 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Brandon University Bobcats have to be road warriors for the first two-thirds of the Canada West women’s volleyball season.

The BU women play just five of their first 16 matches at the Healthy Living Centre while the men play five of 14 at home in 2022-23.

“Eventually, it is what it is,” said BU women’s head coach Lee Carter. “So we need to make sure we’re used to all the routines that you have on the road, make sure the athletes are aware of it going into their class schedules.

“If they have a heavier term they can choose to make it when we have a little bit less travel in the second semester. In saying that, it depends on where we finish. In playoffs, it could end up being a lot of travel as well.”

The Bobcats open at Thompson Rivers in Kamloops, B.C., on Oct. 21 and 22, and return to the Healthy Living Centre on Oct. 28 and 29 to host UBC.

Then they visit Alberta and Manitoba before entertaining MacEwan on Nov. 25 and 26 and splitting the first weekend of December with Winnipeg to close out the first semester.

“My first reaction is ’Wow, that’s a tough start,’” Bobcats men’s coach Grant Wilson said. “Going to Thompson Rivers is one of the toughest places to play, then going back to back with UBC and Alberta, two of the best teams in the country.

“… Ending off with Trinity Western (on Feb. 17 and 18), it can’t end that much more difficult.”

Brandon plays 11 home and 13 road matches. Each BU team gets a bye while the other travels to Regina (women) and Fraser Valley (men) on separate January weekends. The Cascades are the one team the Bobcat women don’t play since their inclusion last year expanded the conference to 14 teams. The men play each of the other 12 squads as Regina folded a few years back.

It’s essentially a return to normal after Canada West put a shortened, regional format in place due to COVID-19 concerns in 2021-22.

That included a modified playoff format including 12 teams instead of eight, and the Bobcat women won their first playoff match in program history against Calgary before losing to UFV and Trinity Western to come up short of the second round. The men reached the final four but lost both matches, falling one win shy of a trip to nationals.

The playoff format is back to a quarterfinal bracket.

“It’s great that we’re able to travel,” Carter said. “We’re back to the full western Canadian opportunity, the chance to play the best teams.”

“Super excited to go back to the full Canada West schedule,” added Wilson. “I’ve said it in the past, I think it’s the best schedule for our sport and it’s the fairest in terms of helping align teams come playoff time.

“After last year’s grind of playing Winnipeg, Manitoba and (Saskatchewan) six times each, we’re definitely looking forward to going back to this schedule.

“There’s no easy weekends, there’s no free passes, you have to be able to play your best volleyball to compete with the teams in our league and survive.”

The U Sports championships are on the March 16-19 weekend at UBC (women) and Hamilton’s McMaster (men). Canada West basketball schedules come out on Monday.

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