For the first time since 2019, the Brandon University Bobcats men's volleyball team will reach the national podium. The question is, what colour will their medals be?

The host Bobcats showed their resilience by battling back from two sets down to nip the fifth-seeded Saskatchewan Huskies 3-2 (21-25, 20-25, 25-23, 25-15, 15-10) in the semifinals of the U Sports Men's Volleyball Championship - presented by Sunrise Credit Union. The Bobcats will now play in the gold-medal match on Sunday at 6 p.m., at the Healthy Living Centre.

"Our season was on the line. Put our backs against the wall, and we're going to fight," said Bobcat Liam Pauls, who tied with teammate Riley Grusing with a match-high 18 kills while adding three service aces and 10 digs. "I think any team in the league is like that, we just took it to another level. I think the crowd helped us out a lot. They were supporting us no matter what, so we were able to feed off them, feed off each other and we had a great team performance tonight."

An early 6-0 run gave the Huskies an 8-4 lead in the first set, a larger deficit than the No.8 Bobcats faced in their entire quarter-final sweep of the top-seeded Winnipeg Wesmen. The Bobcats battled to keep the set close but where plagued by service errors, including four attempts in a row at one point, while Saskatchewan kept the pressure up with their own service game.

The Huskies' formidable front row caused problems for the Bobcats in the second set. Jefferson Morrow racked up four of his team-leading 12 kills to stake Saskatchewan to a 9-4 lead, and the Huskies pushed the Bobcats to the brink.

The Bobcats weren't ready to let their gold-medal dreams go, as they reversed the script in the third, bringing intensity that was only matched by the crowd of 1,800 and forcing the Huskies to chase them most of the set. Grusing continued his relentless attack, accounting for five consecutive BU points on kills, and setter J.J. Love showed his acumen at the net, putting the Bobcats on the verge of a fourth set with a kill, then teaming up with Philipp Lauter for a block that finished the job.

Some substitutions made by the Bobcats in the second set began to pay off in the third, including the insertion of Chris Bryant, who had three service aces in the match to go along with thee kills and three blocks.

"Super happy with the contributions from the guys who came off the bench," Bobcats head coach Grant Wilson said. "Specifically, I thought Chris Bryant came in and just did a tremendous job, served really well, blocked really well and did all the little things that we needed him to do for him to be successful and for us to be successful."

The Bobcats carried that momentum into the fourth set, reeling off five of the first six points and never looking back as they managed 16 kills without an error. Pauls was a force throughout the set and finished it off in style, launching a blistering ace that just caught the line.

"Once things started to click, once the serves started to click, once the passing started to click, everything was just like a well-oiled machine from that point," Pauls said.

The Bobcat machine kept purring in the final set, leading from start to finish, punctuated by Tom Friesen's 10^th kill of the night to clinch the spot in Sunday's gold-medal match against the No.3 Alberta Golden Bears.

This is the Bobcats' fifth time at nationals and will be their fifth time as medallists, although the gold has eluded them to this point.

Through the ups and downs of a long season, Wilson said the ultra-competitive Canada West conference has helped prepare his team for this moment.

"You're playing top teams every weekend, and that's what makes you better," Wilson said. "When you get in these situations you feel relatively comfortable. Tonight's match and all the matches we played in Canada West were the same type of a grind. Hopefully, we can benefit from those experiences, and it will help us in tomorrow's game."