Alyssa Etsell, Bison Sports
WINNIPEG – The No. 2 Brandon University Bobcats beat out the University of Manitoba Bisons in three sets (25-21, 25-8, 25-15) on Saturday night (Dec. 1) thanks in part to a four-ace streak from Robin Baghdady.
The Bisons battled in the first set, but quickly lost control of the game in the second and third. Both teams credit the Bobcats' strong service game for the win.
"They put on a bit of a clinic with their serving," said Bison head coach Garth Pischke. "I'm obviously happy with the way we played in the first set but we came out and got beat up in the last two and serving was a big part of it."
The win, and weekend sweep, extends the Bobcats win streak to six straight and their record jumps to 10-2. Manitoba's record falls to 4-8.
Bobcats outside hitter Baghdady scored a total of five aces in the battle and earned ten kills for the team.
"He can get on a run. He has a lot of different ways of scoring from tshe service line," said Bobcats head coach Grant Wilson. "He can mix speed and angles and hits it pretty hard. He did a really good job of finding seams and putting them in trouble."
At technical time-out in the third set, the Bobcats led 14-10. Baghdady quickly ran up the score with four aces in a row, contributing to an overall five-point streak for the visitors. A Bisons blocking error sealed the set at 25-15 and gave Brandon the 3-0 game win.
For the visitors, Mason Metcalf led the team with 12 kills, Elliott Viles completed five kills and James Weir, Metcalf and Viles all got four blocks. For Manitoba, Kevin Negus chalked up five kills, Kyle Martens scored five digs and Zach Janzen got three blocks.
Brandon dominated the second set from start to finish. Metcalf and Viles formed their unstoppable wall and blocked a Manitoba attack to close the second set, 25-8. In the first two sets, Metcalf pencilled in nine kills.
In a close first set, the Bisons led heading into technical time out, 15-16. However, Brandon quickly pushed past them. The Bobcats clinched the set 25-21 off an out-of-bounds block from Manitoba's Brendan Warren.
After the holiday break, Brandon will play next at home against Trinity Western on Jan. 4, 2019 at 7:45 p.m. CST. Manitoba has a bye in the first weekend of the second half, but their next matchup is at home against UBC Okanagan on Jan. 11 at 6:00 p.m. CST. As always, catch both games live online at CanadaWest.TV.