REDS And Bobcats Go Five Sets

(FREDERICTON, NB) The Brandon Bobcats held off a feisty UNB REDS side to score a 3-2 victory in U SPORTS exhibition men’s volleyball action at UNB’s Richard J. Currie Center on Friday night.

The Bobcats won with scores of 24-26, 25-18, 25-11, 24-26 and 15-11, beating the REDS for the second time in as many nights and sweeping their two-game exhibition series.

Lucas Maffia (Victoria, BC) led the REDS with a match-high 11 digs, while Emil Pedersen (Slagelse, Denmark) and Rafael Hilario (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) registered 13 and 12 kills respectively.

Riley Grusing (Bragg Creek, AB) paced the winners with 13 kills with Jens Watt (Lethbridge, AB) adding 11.

“We’re seeing a super deep team right now and we’re doing a lot of fighting and it’s good practice for when the real season starts,” said Grusing, of the five-set victory. “We’ll have been in tight situations down the stretch, so we’ll be ready.”

Samuel Chen (Chatswood, Australia) and John Michael Flor (Carlyle, SK) each had eight digs for the Bobcats.

The REDS now focus on preparing for their RSEQ regular season opener, on October 20^th, at Université de Montreal.

“We have a lot of quality ball players here,” said REDS’ head coach Dan McMorran. “The new guys are going to be exceptional, the returning cast is strong, but we’re struggling in a couple of positions with consistency.”

“There are some good pieces here,” added McMorran. “Over half of our team are steadily improving every day.”

The Bobcats head to Halifax for two more exhibition matches, both against the Dalhousie Tigers.

RECAP BY: Andy Campbell/UNB Athletics

PHOTOS BY: Fran Harris/for UNB Athletics