BRANDON, Man. – The Brandon Bobcats outlasted the Saskatchewan Huskies in another marathon match, beating the Huskies in a five-set war Saturday (25-20, 24-26, 27-25, 21-25, 15-13).
It’s the second five-set win in as many nights and third in a row on the conference season, moving the ‘Cats to 3-1 in the young conference season.
The Huskies ran a more efficient offence, but Brandon’s pressure from the service line all night proved to be the difference, as the Bobcats put up 14 aces, including four from first-year German import Philipp Lauter and four from Keyano College transfer Joao Cunha.
The teams traded sets in the first two, but the third set was a wild one. The Bobcats jumped to a 12-4 lead before the Huskies put up seven straight points to keep it close the rest of the way before Lauter ended it with an ace.
The Huskies would not go away however, taking the fourth before going the distance in the fifth.
Cunha led the match with 23.5 points, including 19 kills. Lauter wasn’t far behind with 13 kills and five blocks.
Jake Fleming had a match-high 51 assists for the Bobcats while Jens Watt had a match-high 16 digs.
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Dylan Mortensen and Skylar Varga both finished with 17 kills for the Huskies, while Jake Rapin and Matthew Primrose both had 11 digs.
The win gives the Bobcats a modest win-streak at three matches ahead of a two-week break. Next action for Brandon comes on November 26 at home against the Manitoba Bisons.
The Huskies will have their home-opener next weekend against the Bisons.