Thiessen too much to handle Thursday night

BRANDON, Man. – The provincial rivalry was renewed at the BU Healthy Living Centre and it was the Winnipeg Wesmen who came out with the critical 3-1 (26-24, 25-18, 23-25, 25-19) win.

With little to no separation in the Canada West east division standings, and just three matches remaining in conference play, Thursday’s win was critical for the Wesmen and sets up a dynamite rematch on Saturday.

The Wesmen now hold top spot in the east division standings at 9-6, while the Bobcats fall to 7-8 and sit within a game of Saskatchawan Huskies (7-7) and the Manitoba Bisons (6-8).

Brandon managed to push Winnipeg and grind out a tough third set victory, and attempted to make a late push in the fourth, but the Wesmen had an answer for every thing the Bobcats threw at them.

The Wesmen enjoyed another all-Canadian caliber performance from Daniel Thiessen. After surpassing 1,000 career kills last weekend the fifth-year outside hitter had 26 kills on just 43 swings, hitting at a blistering .442 rate.

Nigel Neilsen had 12 kills while Matt Klysh had a match-high 55 assists.

The Bobcats were led by Max Brook and Philipp Lauter who contributed 10 kills each. Lauter also contributed six blocks while Brook and Joao Cunha each finished with four blocks.

Jake Fleming finished with 35 assists and one solo block.

Saturday’s rematch will be the final time the two teams meet in the regular season, with first serve coming at the University of Winnipeg’s Duckworth Centre at 5 p.m.