Brandon Bobcats Weekend Preview

January 29th, 2009

Brandon, MB

This weekend the Spartans travel to snowy, cold, barren Brandon to take on a hot Bobcat Men's Volleyball Team. Two weeks ago the Brandon Bobcats were left for dead after two convincing defeats in Kamloops to the TRU Wolfpack (3-0, 3-1). Following that week the talk was they were fading and their two spot fall in the rankings supported that talk with action from the pollsters. This past weekend the Bobcats regrouped and pulled off a dominant sweep of the then #3 ranked Calgary Dinos (3-0, 3-1) and put themselves right back into the Canada West mix log jamming up the 4-6 spot with UBC and the Spartans at 8-6.

As expected this Canada West season has been tight with many big upsets and tight games along the way. The only thing for certain at this point in the season is that the Bears have won the League title and will host the Final Four. Every other playoff spot is completely up for grabs. Heading into this weekend around the league UBC (8-6) is in Winnipeg (7-7), TRU (10-6) is at Calgary (11-5) and the Spartans (8-6) are at Brandon (8-6). All three match ups are exciting to watch and have huge implications.

As for the Spartans this weekend presents a great opportunity to play in a playoff type atmosphere in a "dress rehearsal." Going into Brandon trying to take 2 of 3 is the way the Spartans need to approach the weekend trying to get into the right mentality. Ideally in a playoff series you would like to avoid the deciding match and get things done in the first two nights but with the way things are looking in the league this year that may not happen in any match up in playoffs.

Brandon is a left side heavy team in that they set Paul Sanderson and Kevin Miller a lot of volume on the left. Miller is a big jumper with a bit of an unorthodox arm swing which makes him very difficult to block. He hits from very high and has a lot of angles available to him. Paul Sanderson is arguably the best left side player in the conference if not the best overall player in Canada West period. He is the toughest server in the conference, doesn't make a lot of errors attacking and passes very well. He really is a complete left side player and a statistical juggernaut. If there were a fantasy volleyball league Sanderson would be every owners dream. Leading Canada West in aces (.91/g) and points (6.21/g) while being second in kills (5.00/g). He has proven himself as one of the most dominant players in the conference in just two years. One of the reasons for Sanderson's success is the ability of 5th year setter Andrew Korol. The Brandon offense is one of the most efficient in the conference sitting second to Alberta at 30.3% for the season. Korol's ability to move the ball, make gutsy choices and be deceptive have allowed Brandon to have a lot of offensive success. The final piece to the offensive puzzle for Brandon is Joel Small who at 6'9 is not at all. Joel spent this summer training with the senior national team in Winnipeg and the improvements can be seen in his play this Canada West season. He is big and jumps well which makes him both a dangerous blocker and attacker. Small is 2nd in the conference in blocks (1.24/g) and third in attack efficiency (44.8%).

In order to slow down the Bobcat offense the Spartans will have to block solidly and defend the ball like crazy. Brandon does not make a lot of errors and make their opponents play out the rallies, much the same the Spartans do. It will be a battle to see which team can dig the ball with quality and run transition that will decide the fate of where playoffs will be hosted for these two teams. The second determining factor for this weekend's matches will be the battle of first contact. Both teams possess explosive serving potential. The Bobcats are a little more consistent in their serving toughness but as last weekend showed the Spartans have a lot to offer from the baseline as well.

All in all it looks to be a slugfest in snowy-cold Brandon.

Match times go 8pm Manitoba time both Friday & Saturday.

The matches will be webcast at www.twuspartans.com if you would like to watch the matches.

Go Spartans!