BRANDON - In a clash of two provincial rivals playing in a classic battle with a ticket to Final Four on the line, the Brandon Bobcats picked up a huge win, beating the Winnipeg Wesmen 3-1(25-22, 17-25, 25-23, 25-17) Saturday night.
 
The first set was just like the previous two matches, the teams going to-toe-toe trading blows back and forth until Brandon closed it out with a block by Frank Jones.
 
Brandon struggled to find their footing in the second set, allowing the Wesmen to jump to a 6-1 lead. The Bobcats got within four points at 14-18 but couldn't keep pace with the Winnipeg attack. The Wesmen took the second 25-17.
 
The third set once again saw both teams exchanging blows until the Bobcats finished off the set at 25-23 with a kill by Sebastien Steigmeier.
 
BU jumped to an early lead in the fourth, entering the technical time out at 16-8. A late surge by the Wesmen didn't phase the 'Cats, as they went on to win 25-17, earning them a berth at the Canada West Final Four for the fourth time in five years.
 
Sebastien Steigmeier led the 'Cats for the second consecutive night with 15 kills, five digs, and four blocks. He also notched five service aces, just one shy of beating the record for most service aces in a Canada West playoff match. Sam Tuivai added 14 kills, five digs, and one block.
 
The Wesmen were led by Casey Schouten who had 16 kills, three service aces, five digs and six blocks. Tom Douglas-Powell notched 13 kills, eight digs, and two blocks.
 
BU head coach Grant Wilson was pleased with how his team played after two exhausting matches in as many days.
 
"Both teams were struggling at times, third match in three days which definitely isn't the norm, so guys struggled to put the ball away and both teams played very good defense all night. The series was such a grind. They played so well and put us under so much pressure with their serve and attack, as we knew they would. With Powell and Schouten both in the lineup and playing well they're a lot to handle. I'm really pleased that we were able to weather the storm and come out on top," says Wilson.  
 
The tough weekend series should be a good precursor for the Bobcats, as the competitive Canada West Final Four will be another difficult weekend.
 
"It only makes you tougher. Mentally, it helps you deal with being in those situations. We know going into the Final Four, whoever we're playing will be just like these guys or better so we needed to be battle tested and this certainly helped," added Wilson
 
With the win, Brandon eliminates the Wesmen from the playoffs and advances to the Canada West Final Four. They will play Trinity Western in the semi-final match at 2:30pm in Edmonton on February 20^th.