BRANDON, Man. – Saturday was a senior night for the ages, as the Bobcats swept the Trinity Western Spartans 3-0 (25-21, 25-17, 25-17) in front of a loud and raucous crowd at the HLC.
A little over he was recognized as a graduating senior, Nigel Tolley made an ace to set up match point.
The Bobcats then closed out the match, sending graduating seniors Tolley, Max Brook, Bryston Keck and Rylan Metcalf off with a memorable final match on home court.
Philipp Lauter led all scorers with 13 points, coming on 11 kills and four block assists.
Tom Friesen, Brook and Metcalf each finished with seven kills while sophomore setter J.J. Love had 27 assists and four block assists.
Aaron Elser led the charge for Trinity with eight kills.
The win improves the Bobcats record to 13-11, good for sixth in the Canada West conference standings.
The Spartans sit third with a record of 18-6, meaning the two teams will meet again next weekend in Langley, B.C. in the first round.
Match details for next weekend’s quarterfinal series will follow.
UPDATE: The Canada West quarterfinals are set and the Bobcats will play the Spartans starting Thursday, Feb. 23 at 8 p.m. PT.
The complete first round of matchups is as follows:
Series A
UBC (5) @ Saskatchewan (4)
Friday, Feb. 24 – 7:00 pm
Saturday, Feb. 25 – 7:00 pm
Sunday, Feb. 26 – 2:00 pm (if necessary)
Series B
Brandon (6) @ TWU (3)
Thursday, Feb. 23 – 8:00 pm
Friday, Feb. 24 – 8:00 pm
Saturday, Feb. 25 – 7:00 pm (if necessary)
Series C
Calgary (7) @ MRU (2)
Friday, Feb. 24 – 6:00 pm
Saturday, Feb. 25 – 7:00 pm
Sunday, Feb. 26 – 5:00 pm (if necessary)
Series D
Manitoba (8) @ Alberta (1)
Thursday, Feb. 23 – 7:00 pm
Friday, Feb. 24 – 7:00 pm
Saturday, Feb. 25 – 7:00 pm (if necessary)
Week 2: Semi-Finals, hosted at highest remaining seed (Best-of-three):
Winner of Series A vs. Winner of Series D
Winner of Series B vs. Winner of Series C
Week 3: CW Championship at Highest Remaining Seed; Bronze medal game at the Highest Remaining Seed of Week 2 loser.