University of Regina Sports Information
REGINA - One night after Brandon recorded a dominant three-set win over the Regina Cougars, the Bobcats were given all they could handle but still came away with a five-set road victory on Saturday at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health & Sport.
In the end, the Cougars did themselves in with an untimely string of errors. After a Brennan Goski kill deadlocked the score at 12-12 in the fifth, the Cougars handed Brandon three straight points – first on a mishit serve, then on back-to-back wide attacks as the Bobcats took the deciding set by a 15-12 margin.
Brandon (8-2) got its offence from two of its usual suspects – Seth Friesen and Matt Powell – and one unlikely source. Bobcats head coach Grant Wilson shuffled his lineup around after the Cougars came out with a big win in the first set, moving libero Brady Nault to left side, and it paid off. Nault finished with 14 kills in four sets as a hitter while also ending up with 11 digs as he helped fill in for Elliott Viles, who leads Brandon in kills this season but wasn't in the lineup on Saturday.
Friesen and Powell both had 16 kills while Powell also had 14 digs, all five of Brandon's service aces, and three blocks. Setter Reece Dixon finished up with 48 assists and 14 digs, while James Weir had eight kills and no errors for a .727 hitting percentage while also tying for the match high with five blocks.
Regina (1-9) got a fine offensive effort from third-year middle Cody Caldwell, who put down a season-high 14 kills while hitting at a blistering .650 clip for the Cougars. Goski had a team-high 16 kills and hit for an impressive .382 percentage, while Matthew Aubrey chipped in with 13 kills.
Rookie setter Jake Fleming had career highs in both assists (47) and digs (13) while registering his first double-double as a Cougar.
While Friday was all Bobcats, Saturday's match had a different feel right from the start. The Cougars hit .500 as a team and sprinted out of the gates with a 25-14 win in the first set, but Brandon came right back with wins in the next two sets to take the lead. The Bobcats won the second by a 25-23 count, then followed that up with a 25-21 win in the third.
In the fourth set, the Cougars jumped ahead with an extended service run by Goski in the early going, but had to wait for their sixth attempt at set point before finally converting with a kill – again by Goski – to send the match the distance.
Brandon jumped out to 7-3 and 11-7 leads in the fifth before a late 5-1 run by the Cougars brought the score level at 12-12, but that's when the string of errors befell the home side.
The Cougars will continue Canada West play next weekend with a pair of matches against UBC Okanagan in Kelowna. Brandon will enjoy a bye week before playing Winnipeg in a home-and-home on Nov. 28 and Dec. 1.