January 19 - The old adage “When the going gets tough, the tough gets going” rang true on Saturday night at the Investors Group Athletic Centre as the #8-ranked Brandon University Bobcats (5-7) beat the University of Manitoba Bisons men’s volleyball team (6-8) in four sets (25-18, 19-25, 28-26, 25-21).

The Bisons had come back to upset the Bobcats only a day earlier in an entertaining five-set thriller as they won their sixth conference game in nine attempts. The Bobcats were looking to shake off a demoralizing defeat and keep pace with their provincial rivals in the Canada West Standings and they came up with an extremely inspired effort, earning a split in the weekend series.

“There’s a reason Brandon is ranked in the Top 10 in the country,” said Bisons head coach Phil Hudson. “They committed very few hitting errors after the second set and that was a major difference from yesterday.”

The Bobcats were the more prosperous team in the opening set as they were ready to compete at a high level. 2nd year left side Paul Sanderson and Kevin Miller provided exceptional front court hitting for the wheat king squad, as they took the opening set 25-18.

The second set started out considerably better for the Herd as they took the first three points, and swung the momentum back in their favour. Middle Joseph Brooks and left side hitter John Galloway had several stuff blocks at the net and Manitoba attacker Ryan Munt had several sneaky kills as Manitoba tied the match up with a 25-19 set victory.

The third set was much tighter than the first two as each team understood the importance of winning the frame. 4th year Bison Drew Venables seemed to give the Bisons life with his trademark finger roll shot but the Bobcats won a lengthy set with impressive back court hitting. The Bobcats won the set 28-26.

The fired up Bobcats capped the match off with a 25-21 set victory to send the visiting fans into euphoria.

5th year libero Spencer Hoehn of Powell River, BC was honoured before the game for his two years of contributions to the Bisons as this was his last regular season home game of the year.

The statistical leaders for the Brandon Bobcats were Paul Sanderson (24 kills, 8 digs) and Kevin Miller (16 kills, .500 hitting percentage). The Manitoba Bisons top performers were John Galloway (15 kills) and Joseph Brooks (10 kills).

The Brandon University Bobcats will return home in preparation for a home set with the University of Saskatchewan Huskies on January 25th and 26th. Both games start at 8:00 p.m. At the other end, The Bisons will finish their regular season schedule on the road, as they will pack their bags for next weekend’s series against Thompson Rivers on January 25th and 26th. Games are at 9:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. local time respectively.

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