By: Matt Packwood, Brandon University Athletics
BRANDON – The Brandon Bobcats bounced back from a mid-match surge from the MacEwan Griffins to earn the weekend sweep by a score of 3-1 (25-16, 21-25, 25-17, 25-22) Saturday evening.
A tough serve game kept the Griffins on their heels for three of the four sets, and fifth-year captain Mary Thomson had an incredible performance as she winds her Bobcat volleyball career down.
Playing in her second last weekend at home as a Bobcat, Thomson finished just one kill shy of a triple-double, a rare feat in volleyball as the Brandon-product put up nine kills, 37 assists, and 11 digs.
Thomson nearly capped the impressive performance on the fourth-last point as her dump attempt came up just short, bringing a collective groan from the Bobcats' bench. Regardless, Thomson's effort was noticed as she was selected player of the match.
The first set was all Bobcats as they kept the Griffins under pressure from the service line. Brandon mounted only two aces, but the serve game kept the Griffins out of sync, which resulted in MacEwan putting up five attack errors to go with just five kills.
Fifth-year captain Cassidy Kinsella was lights out Friday for MacEwan, but ice cold in the first set on Saturday registering zero kills on 11 swings.
MacEwan cleaned things up defensively in the second set, putting up 26 digs en route to tying the match at 1-1.
The third and fourth sets saw Brandon get back to what worked for them all weekend, a tough serve and pass game as their pressure from the line kept MacEwan's serve receive on their heels, thus keeping their offence from running efficiently.
While Thomson's nine kills were a career-high, Caitlin Le also had a night, registering a career-high and match-high 30 digs for the Bobcats.
Nikala Majewski and Michelle Egger led the Bobcat attack for the second consecutive night as they finished with 13 and 12 kills respectively.
Kinsella led the Griffins with 11 kills while Karly Edgar had a team-high 17 digs.
The win moves Brandon's record to 10-10 on the season while MacEwan falls to 2-18.
The Bobcats will enjoy the friendly confines of home again next weekend as they welcome the Mount Royal Cougars for what will be the final home matches of the season for BU.
The Griffins will head back on the road, this time to Calgary to play a weekend series against the Dinos.
Photo courtesy Milana Paddock