Your Bobcats volleyball teams were at home this weekend, facing off with with the University of Calgary Dinos. The games ended with some mixed results for the Bobcats, some matches ending with clean sweeps in favour of BU and others ending in being swept away. All in all, it was a good weekend for sports and the Bobcats put on a tough battle for each match up.
The women’s team would lose both games on the weekend, being swept away in some extremely tight matches on Friday losing 0-3, and losing 1-3 on Saturday with some equally intense games. The first night at home the Bobcats got off to a rough start with the Dinos losing the first set 16-25. This is understandable as the Dinos are the #1 nationally ranked team, however this did not falter the women’s spirits. The Bobcats pushed hard in the next two sets and pushed the matches to 27-29 and 25-27. Coach Lee Carter was impressed with the Bobcats defence and was happy with the blocks and digs that came out of the game, he thought with some minor improvements his team would take the next day by storm. Although the women did play better than Friday, the Bobcats were still unable to come away with the win. The leaders on Friday include Nikala Majewski with 18 kills and Shayne Nichols with 18 digs. Saturday’s game once again showed why the #1 ranked team in the league would go on to an 8-0 record after the weekend. The Dinos had done extremely well with their serving against the Bobcats and it showed again on Saturday as they scored 13 aces alone. Although the Bobcats did take the first set of the evening 25-23, the Dinos quickly found their rhythm and their hitting percentage went from a .067 in that first set to a .252 by the end of the evening. The Bobcats fought hard each set but lost 1-3 with their record slipping to 2-6. Bobcats players who stood out include Nikala Majewski again with the match high kills at 16, Michelle Egger who had a double-double contributing 10 kills and 11 digs and Caitlin Le who finished with 19 digs.
The men’s volleyball team had a far different encounter with the Dinos compared to the women. The men won each set they played against the Dinos, with the scores ranging from 25-20 to 25-7. The Bobcats truly dominated this series with the Dinos and made quick work of their defence. The men are undefeated on home court this season! Friday night the men followed solid planning through with great execution. They served and passed well, helping the offence flow smoothly as the Bobcats cruised to victory. Brandon’s hitting percentage was .568 compared to Calgary’s .192. The Bobcats were lead on Friday by Elliot Viles who would score 16 kills, Robin Baghdady with 11 kills and Seth Friesen with 10 kills. Although the scoring was a bit better for the Dinos on Saturday, their men could not keep up with the Bobcats intensity. Elliot Viles had another amazing night, scoring again the highest number of kills with zero errors, something which is super impressive and rare when the rallies are moving at this speed. The Bobcats made half the errors as the Dinos and had double the blocks. The Bobcats often surged forward in their sets against the Dinos and after establishing a lead would maintain it for the rest of the match. Bobcats who played some big roles in the match up include Seth Friesen who had 9 kills and 3 blocks, Mason Metcalfe who had 6 kills and 6 blocks and Reece Dixon who delivered 29 assists.
The Bobcats will be heading out on the road for their nest few games before heading into the Holiday break. Next weekend BU will be playing out to Kelowna BC where they will be taking on the UBC-Okanagan Heat. The games are scheduled for the women at 6:00p.m. on Friday and 8:00p.m. for the men. If you want to catch up on the latest statistics and information of the Bobcats you can check out their website at gobobcats.ca. Good luck against the Heat next weekend Bobcats!