BRANDON, Man. – The Brandon Bobcats are back in the groove after taking six straight sets over the Manitoba Bisons thanks to Saturday's 3-0 (26-24, 25-16, 25-22) win.
 
On paper the win gives Brandon a modest two-match winning streak, which would normally not be particularly notable after dropping the previous six, but the win secures a first round playoff series at home.
 
"I think we worked hard all season to put ourselves in this position. We love playing at home and we love playing in this gym. We always seem to find our groove here and the crowd is always great so what else could you want," said Brandon's fifth-year setter Reece Dixon
 
The Bobcats hit above .300 as a team in all three sets and the Bisons managed just one block against Brandon's high-powered offence, which was paced yet again by Dixon who put up a match-high 38 assists.
 
The Bobcats were boosted by the return of fifth-year outside hitter Seth Friesen, who provided more open looks for fellow outsides Viles and Robin Baghdady.
 
Viles finished with a match-high 20 kills while Baghdady contributed a double-double of 12 kills and 10 digs. 
 
Viles credits seniors Friesen, Dixon and Mason Metcalf who were all honoured before the match for playing their final home games as Bobcats.
 
"We really dug deep. I think that first set could have gone either way and it being seniors night we played for them, for Reece, Seth and Mason because we really wanted to finish the right way being our last regular season match on home court," said Elliott Viles.
 
The Bisons were led by their lone fifth-year Kevin Negus who finished with a team-high 19 kills.
 
The win moves Brandon's record to 13-7 while Manitoba falls to 7-13.
 
While Brandon now gets set to travel to Vancouver next weekend to close the conference season against UBC before hosting a playoff series, Manitoba will quickly try to re-group before ending the regular season at home against Saskatchewan.
 
Manitoba needs to have a good weekend against the Huskies in order to qualify for the conference championship before hosting the U SPORTS national championship in March.