Box Score
EDMONTON - On the strength of 32 kills from
Sam Tuivai and
Roy Ching, the No.8 ranked Brandon University Bobcats volleyball team scored a thrilling 3-1 victory (24-26, 25-23, 25-23 and 27-25) over the No.1 ranked University of Alberta Golden Bears, during the opening match of the Canada West Final Four championship at the Saville Community Sports Centre in Edmonton.
Brandon will play for Canada West gold on Saturday against TWU, and, more importantly, has booked itself a berth to the CIS championship which will be held March 1-3 at the Université Laval.
Only the top three teams from the Canada West championship advance to the national tournament next weekend, and now the Golden Bears will have to win on Saturday to play in Quebec. Alberta, owners of a 20-2 regular season record, had only lost 12 sets this year, while also winning 12 matches out of 22 in straight sets.
On Friday, they was led by fourth-year left-side Jay Olmstead, who recorded 15 kills and a .333 hitting percentage. Fifth-year libero Erik Mattson, the 2013 Canada West Libero of the Year, had a match high 16 digs, while fifth-year Mitch Irvine, the newly crowned Canada West MVP, had 13 kills and 13 digs.
Sixteen kills each by Tuivai, who was earlier named a Canada West First Team All-star, and Ching paced the Bobcats.
Dan Boutwell had nine kills in the win, while setter Garrett Poppelstone dished out 43 assists and libero
Jeremy Davies banked 13 digs.
The two teams were neck-and-neck throughout the match, statistically even in most categories after the match. Only a few minor differences separated wins from losses on Friday night, chief among them: the service line. Brandon, which lost a pair of 3-1 matches to the Bears earlier this year, was much better at the service line on the night, spinning five aces to Alberta's zero. And, while the Golden Bears had a better attack percentage (.194 to .167), the 'Cats did attempt more attacks (144 to 134) and recorded more kills (57 to 52). A combined 10 points from the service line and attacks was all Brandon needed to slip past their hosts.
Olmstead was an absolute force in the opening set; crushing eight kills on 10 attempts, with no errors to force a Golden Bears 26-24 comeback win over Brandon. After an early 4-2 lead the Bears trailed for the remainder of the set, including deficits of 11-6 and 24-16. Despite that significant disadvantage, Alberta slowly chipped away, and soon enough put themselves in the driver's seat where they were able to score 10 straight points for the win.
Ching, a freshman from New Zealand, picked up six kills in the second set, while Tuivai, a sophomore, recorded five. Brandon also picked up three aces in middle frame, while Alberta recorded three service errors. The Golden Bears were sharper on the attack, but the mistakes at the service line cost them, and they also committed three serve receive errors as well.
Three more errors in the serving game cost Alberta a 25-23 loss in the third set, as both teams struggled on the attack. The Bears connected on just .029 of their attacks, while Brandon fared no better at .028.
It looked like the Golden Bears would force a fifth and final set, as they led for most of the fourth set, but they simply could not find continued success on the attack against Brandon, and once again, the serving game cost them. Alberta gave up two combined points in each of the serve and serve receive categories, while Brandon picked up an ace. Tuivai was also a significant play maker in the fourth as he pounded nine kills to hoist his team over the No.1 ranked Golden Bears for the 27-25 win, a shot at the Canada West title and a CIS championship berth.
Brandon will play on Saturday at 8:00 p.m. for Canada West gold, while Alberta will play for bronze, and the last remaining CIS berth, at 6:00 p.m.
