MVB: Brandon rebounds with massive win over Wesmen

EDMONTON - Brandon University entered tonight's matchup against the Winnipeg Wesmen requiring a win to keep their playoff hopes alive.

Led by recently-named Canada West first-team and rookie team all-star Philipp Lauter, win they did by way of a four set victory (31-29, 25-22, 15-25, 25-23) at the Saville Centre Friday evening.

Lauter finished with 12 kills on 32 swings to go along with four total blocks in what was an impressive, complete performance from the German first-year. Jens Watt flanked Lauter in leading the Bobcats to victory, recording a team-high 13 kills.

Fellow first-team all-star and presumptive MVP candidate Daniel Thiessen continued his dominant play for the Wesmen, leading the game with 23 kills.

The win keeps Brandon alive in the Pool E playoff hunt, as the top two teams advance to the CW Final Four. With Alberta at 1-0 and Winnipeg now sporting an 0-1 record, they just need a Golden Bears win tomorrow, or a Winnipeg victory that goes to five sets, to advance to presumably Langley, BC, home of the top-seeded Trinity Western Spartans. Brandon will certainly hope that transitive property holds true for tomorrow night's contest.

While the first set started back-and-forth, it did not take long for the lefty Thiessen to make his mark on this one. His four kills on five swings helped send the Wesmen into the technical timeout up 16-11. The Bobcats would not roll over easily in this first set, with their own star Lauter acting as a release valve for errant digs and doing a phenomenal job of it, finishing the set with five kills on 11 attempts. The frame eventually reached extras, where the Wesmen would have an astonishing 6 separate set points that they were unable to finish. Brandon would steal the set 31-29, with second-year Watt joining Lauter in pacing the Cats with five kills. Thiessen had a set-high seven kills himself, and also contributed four digs and two blocks to the Wesmen effort.

The Bobcats maintained momentum into the second set, where setter Jake Fleming ran the attack efficiently to help to a 16-10 technical timeout lead. He would finish the set with 12 assists. Brandon would not look back from there, committing four attack errors to Winnipeg's six alongside two aces to win the set 25-22. Thiessen was a lone source of offence for the Wesmen, contributing another seven finishes on 12 swings in the frame, while the backline of Nigel Nielsen and Michael Corrigan provided some timely and, in Corrigan's case, highlight-reel digs.

The Wesmen attack, which led the CW in kills per set this season, found their form in the third set en route to a dominant 25-15 set victory. The trio of Thiessen, Nielsen, and William Racano were ferocious at the net, guiding Winnipeg to an efficient .370 hitting percentage. The Brandon attack that had so far been largely mistake free fell apart in the third set, getting only five kills on attacks and committing six attack errors alone for a hitting percentage in the negatives. Nielsen paced both teams with six kills in the set.

The fourth set was a back-and-forth affair, one that featured strong play at the net from both sides. The attack on the Cats side was a depth affair, sprung by orchestrator Fleming who finished with a game-high 38 assists. Thiessen nearly willed the Wesmen into a fifth set with another seven kills in this frame, helped certainly by the sets received by Corrigan. A dominant Brandon endgame however would squash those hopes, as they took the final frame 25-23.

The Wesmen will face a similar predicament to Brandon tomorrow night, needing a win over the Alberta Golden Bears to advance to the Final Four. The Bobcats will eagerly await the results, as they advance with anything but a three or four set victory from the Wesmen.