BRANDON, Man. – The Brandon Bobcats stormed to a straight sets 3-0 (25-20, 25-17, 25-20) win over the Calgary Dinos to open their Canada West quarterfinal series Thursday night.
The Dinos swept the season series, but the Bobcats had other plans in mind Thursday night. Brandon hit at twice the rate of Calgary on offence, registering a .466 attack efficiency as a team.
"Our first touch was decent, our block defence was really good, our blockers got some really good touches that made our job passing a lot easier, and at the end of the day we were just able to stick with it and get the result we wanted," said Brandon libero
Bryton Such.
"There's a lot of poise on this roster, and having the experience we did last year of playing in the national final, which is a different beast on its own, but our guys have learned a lot and are using it."
The Bobcats struggled out of the gate in the first few points of the first set, but quickly righted the ship thanks to four massive blocks and Calgary's eight missed serves in the frame.
The second set was a slugfest as both teams swung for the fences, but Brandon put up five aces in the frame to take it.
The Bobcats ran away with the match in the third, registering just one error in the set, brignging the team total to five attack errors on the night.
The Dinos didn't do themselves any favours from the service line either.
"Our serving was just brutal today," said Dinos' setter Tomas Sorra. "That was probably one of our worst serving games of the year, so that was probably our biggest thing."
The Dinos were led by Mac McNicol and Liam Kuppe on offence who both finished with six kills. Sorra finished with a team-high 24 assists.
The Bobcats were led by
Elliott Viles' match-high 11 kills while sophomore outside
Robin Baghdady wasn't far behind with 10.
Baghdady also contributed three aces, as did
Mason Metcalf.
The Bobcats will have the chance to wrap up the quarterfinal series Friday night in Brandon.
First serve in match two is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Brandon University Healthy Living Centre.