WINNIPEG – The No. 2 ranked Bobcats extended their win streak to five with a 3-0 win (25-21, 25-20, 25-16) over the University of Manitoba Bisons on Friday night.
The first two sets were close, as neither team led by more than three points at a time, but the Bobcats' relentless offensive play and tough serves were too much for Manitoba in the third.
"It's tough to win on the road in this league and I thought our guys came out pretty focused and played with a purpose right from the start," said Bobcats head coach Grant Wilson.
The win also means the Bobcats have not dropped a set in their last 15, and moves their record to 9-2.
Going into a game against a second-ranked team, the Bisons knew they had to bring their A-game. They were focused on doing as many things right on their side of the court as possible.
"It's a very talented team and we just wanted to be as clean as we could; we were for two sets and then we lost it a bit in the third," said Bisons head coach Garth Pischke. "We hit .412 in the first two sets which was extremely good, and good enough to win most sets, but they hit .500 so they're just a little bit better than us and the score reflected that."
For Brandon, Elliott Viles led the team with 14 kills. Manitoba's Kevin Negus chalked up eight for the home team.
Early in the second, Manitoba had a slight lead, giving the visitors their turn to fight from behind. At half, Brandon led 16-14 and surged from there. A massive block by Brendan Warren attempted to close the lead at a crucial point, but a Bisons error put Brandon within set point and a kill right near the mid-court line moved the visitors to clinch the set, 25-20.
In the first, the Bobcats had trouble maintaining a substantial lead, up by just three points halfway through the first set (16-13). A service error from Manitoba put the Brandon within set point, and a block error netted the set win (25-21).
With the loss, Manitoba's record moves to 4-7.
The second half of the weekend series goes Saturday at the Investors Group Athletic Centre. The matchup starts at 6:45 p.m. CST.
