The stakes are high for senior’s weekend at the Healthy Living Centre for the Brandon University volleyball teams.
Senior standouts Alexis Loewen and co-captain Kellie Baker are being recognized by the Lady ‘Cats, who are going up against the Trinity Western Spartans in a battle of top-ranked teams in the nation.
"It’s going to be an entertaining game. It’s not going to either be an impossible game, but it’s also not going to be a really simple game and we really have to prepare for it. Competition is really good, because it’s going to make for a dramatic weekend," Loewen told CKLQ’s Tyler Crayston.
The second-ranked BU women’s team and fourth-ranked Trinity Western are tied for second-place in Canada West with 14-4 records and are vying for home court advantage in the opening round of the playoffs.
"We’ve already got the ‘X’ by our name, so we know we’re in the playoffs and now we have to learn to play playoff volleyball," said coach Lee Carter. "It’s different then league because there’s a finale behind it. In league you always got another game on the weekend, you always got another one the next weekend. In playoffs you got to perform now."
On the men’s side, the Bobcats are fighting for a spot in the post-season going into matches against the conference leading and #1 ranked Spartans, who sport a record of 17-1.
"Having the #1 team in the country, it’s definitely better to have them here then on the road. That’s how we’re looking at it," said coach Grant Wilson. "We like how we match up with them, we know they’re extremely good and are going to be tough to beat, but with that said we know if we play well, we’re tough to beat too."
Fifth-year co-captain Dan Boutwell is playing his final regular season home matches for the Bobcats, who are part of a three-way tie for the seventh and final playoff spot at 8-10.
"For sure that’s always good motivation. You have nothing to lose, just play as hard as you can. In front of a home crowd it doesn’t get much better than that," said Boutwell. "I think we played a bit frustrated at some points, losing quite a few games in a row there, but I think we just got show we can compete with any team, we know we can. We just got to give it 100 percent and show some emotion out there."
Match times Friday at the HLC are 6 p.m. and 7:45 p.m. and you can also catch the action on WCG-TV and canadawest.tv.