The Brandon Bobcats men's volleyball team can claim another first following non-conference action over the holiday break.
The Bobcats took part in the 2017 edition of the University of Winnipeg Wesmen Classic, which was the first year in tournament history that some of Canada's best volleyball teams hit the court at the Duckworth Centre, and the Bobcats claimed the tournament's top prize.
In the championship match, the Brandon Bobcats rallied from 18-10 down in the third set to earn a sweep of the Laval Rouge et Or, 3-0 (25-15, 25-21, 27-25).
"When things don't go our way we have a tendency to come out fighting and I thought we did that tonight," BU head coach Grant Wilson said. "We played with a lot of good emotion and good energy and our guys were definitely ready to go."
Winnipeg's David Bommersbach, the Manitoba's Adam DeJonckheere, Brandon's Elliott Viles, and Laval's Vicente Villalobos and Ethan Ellison were named tournament all-stars. Viles had 13 kills in the final.
Brandon's Seth Friesen, who had eight kills in the final, was named tournament MVP.
In the fifth-place match, Ryerson ended Regina's two-match win streak with a 3-1 (25-23, 22-25, 25-14, 25-16) win. Western won its first match of the tournament by knocking off UNB 3-2 (25-20, 22-25, 21-25, 31-29, 15-13) in the seventh-place match.
In Saturday's semi-final, both the Wesmen and Manitoba Bisons played varying alterations of their regular lineups and the host U of W dominated from start to finish, beating the Bisons 3-0 (25-12, 25-17, 25-23) in the third-place match at the 51st Wesmen Classic Saturday night.
The Bobcats will now enjoy a weekend off before resuming conference play on Jan. 12 on the road against the University of Calgary Dinos.
