Bobcat men change lineup, chase sweep

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 28/01/2022 (1514 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WINNIPEG — At this rate, Grant Wilson might swap his clipboard for a jersey and take the court, let athletic therapist Schad Richea coach and send captain Jake Fleming to the medical table to tape ankles.

OK, maybe that’s getting carried away. But the Bobcats (5-6) took “trying something different” to new heights at the Duckworth Centre on Thursday. Wilson had just three of seven starters in their opening-day roles, with two fresh faces and three position shifts. It worked, to the tune of a 3-2 (25-16, 20-25, 25-21, 21-25, 15-10) triumph over the host Winnipeg Wesmen (6-5).

It’s safe to say the Bobcats will have everyone on their toes for tonight’s rematch at the Healthy Living Centre at 6:45 p.m., following the women’s match at 5 o’clock.

“We said all along, come Term 2, we’re going to mix our lineups up,” Wilson said. “We don’t know who our best lineup is … We tried to establish what we thought was a starting lineup in the first term and it worked early, but then we struggled late and decided at that point we’re going to start tinkering with our lineup and see what works best.”

To some degree, the adjustments were prompted by injury. Six-foot-eight left side Joao Cunha is dealing with a minor hitting-shoulder issue and threw on a libero shirt Thursday. Wilson paired him with Brandonite Liam Nohr, who handled points BU served in while the Brazilian took the serve-receive reps.

Nohr has played a significant role in all three matches this semester. It was a long time coming for the former Vincent Massey Viking, who joined BU in 2018 but didn’t play the first couple of years. He learned from captain Brady Nault and the star-studded Canada West-winning side his rookie year and continued to grow afterwards. Wilson said the six-foot libero has a great volleyball IQ and just needed the opportunity to display it.

“My mindset was to learn as much as I could and to watch the game,” Nohr said of the early years. “When I came in it was a really good team and a really high calibre of volleyball so just using practice and watching from the bench was so, so key to me finally being able to be on the court.

“It’s easier because you only have to focus on one thing (as the defensive libero), but it’s a lot of fun. The guys make it a lot of fun and if it works for the team, it works for me.”

That displaced Jens Watt, who had absolutely no issue returning to the left side spot he grew up playing in Lethbridge, Alta. The second-year and 2019-20 Canada West all-rookie teamer racked up a team-high 19 kills with a .300 hitting percentage.

“Whatever G (Wilson) needs, I’ll do,” Watt said. “I’ve been telling him that since I’ve been here.

Finally, Wilson felt Gladstone native Paycen Warkentin deserved a shot to start in the middle, shifting German star Philipp Lauter to right side.

The result? A solid 15 kills and .286 hitting percentage from Lauter, with a sparkling eight kills, eight blocks and .613 for Warkentin. The former Manitoba Colleges Athletic Conference MVP at Assiniboine Community College showed no reason why he shouldn’t draw into the lineup again tonight.

“We’re trying to find a way, as always, to put our best athletes on the floor that can put pressure on the other team,” Wilson said. “Philipp has always had the interest of playing on the outside … he certainly held his own.

“Paycen’s just done an incredible job in our training … We wanted to reward him with an opportunity; he took it and ran with it.”

The Bobcats raced ahead to a 16-9 lead on Thursday and cruised to an easy opening-set victory. Oddly, the Bobcats had just seven kills in the frame, as the Wesmen missed six serves and made nine hitting errors.

Winnipeg responded with a 13-kill, three-error set and capped it with a terrific Will Racano middle kill to tie the match 1-1.

Lauter served BU into a 13-9 lead in the third, and the visitors held serve as Lauter delivered three kills and a block from his new right side spot. Max Brook sent BU ahead 2-1 with his eighth kill of the match.

Winnipeg made it clear the match was going the distance, ripping ahead 12-5 in the fourth. Matt Klysh was willing to set everyone and strong passing made that easy. They delivered and even returned the favour as Jaxon Rose set his setter for a left-side kill. Nigel Neilsen capped it with Winnipeg’s 17th kill of the set.

The Bobcats took an early edge on a pair of Neilsen errors. Then setter Jake Fleming made an incredible backset on the run to Warkentin, who buried it. Watt made an even tougher dish to Warkentin the very next play, faking a back-row attack and sliding it over to the Gladstone product to make it 7-3 Brandon.

A back-and-forth battle was good enough from there for BU. Warkentin fisted an over-bump to the floor to bring up match point at 14-10. Winnipeg did the rest with an attack into the net.

Daniel Thiessen’s match-high 22 kills weren’t enough. Oddly, a Brandon win and Manitoba-Saskatchewan split could leave the entire East Division at 6-6 by the end of the night.

Watt said the Bobcats need to clean up a few things, namely a more consistent first touch to limit Winnipeg’s runs that forced the match to a tiebreaker.

“We just had a few too many lapses there but they’re a good team. They’re going to go on runs and we just got to try to mediate the runs,” Watt said.

“They have some great players. I think Klysh is (top five) U Sports in (assists), (libero) Darian Picklyk is leading U Sports in digs right now, then Thiessen too, Thiessen’s been a menace the last five years he’s been here.”

» tfriesen@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @thomasmfriesen