In front of a packed Bob Davis Gymnasium, the Brock Badgers men’s volleyball team defeated the visiting Western Mustangs 3-1 (25-10, 18-25, 25-22, 25-18).
With the victory on Saturday, Feb. 24 in the quarter-final round, the Badgers move on to the semifinals, where a win will book them a ticket to the national championship in Kingston.
“I’m just proud of these young men and the resilience they showed,” said men’s head coach Ian Eibbitt. “These matches and playoffs are tough, and I have a lot of respect for Coach Jim Sage of Western. I’m glad we grinded and battled, and this team deserved this.”
Kylar Code had one of his strongest matches as a Badger, finishing with a game-high 22 points; all off kills. Fellow outside hitter Devin Cooney had 18 kills of his own. Senior setter Grant Reddon ran the offence, finishing with 46 assists while veteran outside hitter Sauli Lianga led the defence with 12 digs.
Neither team gained a significant advantage after 20 points of play, with the score remaining even at 10. The raucous crowd helped the Badgers gain some momentum as they took a 16-12 advantage off back-to-back attacking errors from Western’s Blake Fenwick. 17 kills from the Badgers overwhelmed the Mustangs in the first set as they took it 25-20.
Western stormed out early in the set to a 6-2 advantage, forcing a Brock timeout. The Mustangs kept the pressure on and took a lead as large as 18-9. However, there was no quit for the home side Badgers, as they chipped away at the Mustang’s advantage off strong attacking from Cooney and Code. Despite a bit of a run by the Badgers, the Mustangs held on for the 25-18 second set win.
Strong attacking from Western early and some hitting errors from Brock gave the visitors a 12-8 lead. A KJ Robinson service ace got their fans out of the seats and reduced the Western lead to just 12-10. Reddon and Liam Strong combined for a block that brought the game to within one at 17-16, which was followed by a Jacob Ferland service ace. The defence was on display as the Badgers fought back, and Western was forced to call a timeout down 22-20. Brock completed the comeback with a Lianga kill to finish things off 25-22.
“We had a good game plan in order and we got away from it early in the set. That’s what cost us,” said Eibbitt. “We got back to our details, let our block go to work and were able serve what we wanted. Grant battled tonight and as a proven senior, found a way to get it done.”
In the fourth set, Reddon’s setter dump got the crowd out of their seats and the Mustangs had to call a timeout as the scoreline read 10-7 for the Badgers. Brock’s lead continued to expand as they fed off the energy of the Bob Davis Gymnasium. Cooney’s power tip gave the Badgers a six-point advantage at 21-15 and they never looked back. A kill from Code sealed the 25-18 fourth set win and the match.
With the win, the No. 3 seed Badgers (15-5) will battle against the No. 2 seed and No. 5 nationally ranked Queen’s Gaels (15-5) on Friday, Mar. 1 at 8 p.m. in Kingston. You can watch all the action on OUA.tv.