ABBOTSFORD – The Brandon Bobcats opened their playoff run with a four-set triumph over the Mount Royal Cougars on Thursday evening at the UFV Athletic Centre.
The Bobcats prevailed 19-25, 25-22, 25-22, 26-24 in the first game of Pool A round-robin action for both teams.
Up next, Brandon (1-0) takes on Thompson Rivers (0-1) on Friday at UFV, while the Cougars (0-1) face the top-seeded Trinity Western Spartans at the Langley Events Centre. Both games start at 8 p.m., and will be webcast at CanadaWest.tv.
For Bobcats head coach Grant Wilson, one of the most pleasing elements of his squad’s performance vs. Mount Royal was the way they battled back in the fourth set to close out the match. Mount Royal appeared poised to force a fifth set, leading 24-22, but Brandon reeled off four straight points to end it.
“We showed some real good resiliency,” Wilson observed. “We’ve found ourselves in that situation a few times this year – we’ve played the most fifth-set matches in program history, so we’re somewhat comfortable in the long matches. Thankfully we stayed positive and stayed with it, and found a way to get it done in four.”
The Cougars got off to a strong start, racking up 15 kills in the first set – five apiece from Max Haronga and Zach Lobdell – to take it 25-19.
The Bobcats caught fire in the second, hitting .419 as a team en route to a 25-22 win to square the match. Philipp Lauter had five kills for Brandon, and Jens Watt had four including one on set point to close it out.
In the third, the Bobcats pulled away in the middle stages, with Lauter leading the charge with four kills.
The Cougars appeared poised to extend the match, up 24-22 in the fourth, but Brandon registered four straight points close out the match. Max Brook got the Bobcat surge started with a kill, and the next three points came via Cougar attack errors.
“It’s a simple matter of execution,” MRU head coach Shawn Sky said. “It’s not a game to 25, it’s a game to one point, and we had some opportunities where we needed to play better. They played well – full credit to Grant and his team. They played with better energy than we had tonight.”
Lauter’s 20 kills were a game-high, and he hit .472. Tom Friesen (12 kills) and Watt (11) both registered double-digit kills for the Bobcats, and Jake Fleming had 46 assists.
Lobdell and Haronga finished with 12 kills apiece for the Cougars, and Jacob van Geel chipped in with 10 kills.
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