LANGLEY, B.C. – A strong start lifted the Bobcats to a first set victory, but tough serves from the host Trinity Western Spartans in the last three sets were enough to carry the home side to an opening match win in the quarterfinal series.
 
Trinity picked up a 3-1 (19-25, 25-11, 25-15, 25-22) victory to open the series at the Langley Events Centre.
 
While the LEC is often a tough environment to play in, the Bobcats showed no signs of concern early, but couldn't contain the strong serving Spartans.
 
"The second and third sets they basically just served us off the court," says Bobcats coach Grant Wilson.
 
"We just couldn't contain their service pressure and we missed too many serves to get them under pressure and that's not a good combination if you want to compete with a team that good."
 
The Bobcats took control of the first set, with the tide shifting on an early ace from J.J. Love. Then the Bobcat block defence that gained a reputation across the conference this season found a groove. The first was ended by a Philipp Lauter and Tom Friesen block.
 
Trinity answered back in a big way, running away with the second set.
 
The Spartans sorted out the block defence in the third, and kept Brandon under pressure from the service line to take a 2-1 lead.
 
The Bobcats took a lead late in the fourth set before Trinity answered back to close out the match, thanks to a 25-22 set score.
 
Trinity's Brodie Hofer led all scorers with 19 points, coming off 17 kills and two aces. Henry Rempel had a double-double for the Spartans, finishing with 16 kills and 10 digs.
 
The Bobcats were led by Philipp Lauter's 13 kills, but the second year middle also had eight attack errors. Tom Friesen finished with nine kills while Max Brook put up eight kills and nine digs.
 
The two teams meet again in at 8 p.m. PT at the Langley Events centre in the second match of the quarterfinal series.