BRANDON, Man. – The defending champion Bobcats opened defence of their Canada West men's volleyball title with a four-set win over the visiting Thompson Rivers WolfPack at the Healthy Living Centre on Friday night.
 
The set scores were 28-26, 25-20, 21-25 and 25-13.
 
The opener saw both teams stave off a series of set points in the first, before the Bobcats prevailed in overtime.
 
Brandon built an early 10-7 advantage in the second set thanks to a 4-0 run. Thompson Rivers rallied to take a 16-15 lead at the technical timeout and padded their lead with three straight points. The Bobcats got back on track with mini runs of 5-0 and 4-0 to give them the nod in the middle frame.
 
The WolfPack used a sparkling .333 hitting percentage to stay alive in the third. Thompson Rivers opened the third set with the first three points and maintained that point spread at the technical timeout up 16-13. The Bobcats got the lead back at 18-17, but the WolfPack regained the momentum with a 4-0 run to stay alive in the match.
 
The Bobcats dominated the fourth set from start to finish. They opened a 4-0 lead and doubled it to 16-8 at the technical timeout. Brandon won eight of the next 10 points to sit firmly in the driver's seat.

Seth Friesen had 11 kills while Robin Baghdady added 10 kills for the Bobcats. Jake Fleming got the start at setter with conference all-star Reece Dixon sidelined with injury. Fleming finished with 29 assists and two service aces.
 
"I thought we showed a lot of fight," said Fleming. "We got down after a couple of runs but we got right back into it. I really loved that part of our game."
 
Meanwhile, Charlie Bringloe scored a match-high 15 kills in a losing cause for the WolfPack and Sam Taylor Parks was involved in eight total blocks for Thompson Rivers.
 
"We stepped up our game on defence," said Taylor Parks. "We were covering tips and swings and getting solid touches on the blocks. I believe that was a positive step in the right direction."
 
The Bobcats look to complete the season opening sweep on Saturday with the rematch at 6:45 p.m. at the HLC.