Bobcats sweep volleyball honours

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This article was published 06/03/2019 (2376 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Brandon University Bobcats’ dazzling run to the men’s volleyball conference final now includes a feat never accomplished before.

For the first time since Canada West merged with the Great Plains Athletic Conference in 2000, one school is home to all four major conference award winners. Robin Baghdady was named rookie of the year on Tuesday, while Seth Friesen won the student-athlete community service award and Grant Wilson earned his second coach-of-the-year nod.

The announcement was headlined by third-year right side Elliott Viles, who was named player of the year.

“It’s a phenomenal achievement,” Wilson said. “He had an extremely good year. His numbers back it up and our success backs it up. It’s great to see that he was rewarded with such high accolades.”

Viles has been unstoppable at times, and well above average after that. He only had two matches with a sub-.200 hitting percentage and hit a high-water mark of .800 — a 16-kill, error-free effort against Calgary on Nov. 16 — this season.

“It’s good recognition for the season we’ve had and the success we’ve had. When you’re winning, the individual accolades just come with it,” Viles said

“Confidence,” he added about the biggest change in his game. “For sure, when you’re winning a lot of games you have a lot of confidence in your game and you just play freely, and that’s huge.”

Viles flipped to right side this year, after spending two season on the left. It was a question mark at the beginning of the year — whether he or Friesen would move over — and Viles answered it with 45 kills to just 14 errors in his first four matches behind setter Reece Dixon.

“It was something new, but came to me really naturally and quietly,” Viles said. “With the team we have, and the guys at every position, it makes it really easy for me to do my job.”

Viles went on to put up a .366 hitting percentage on the season, second to Trinity Western outside Eric Loeppky’s .374, and added 0.89 blocks per set.

Baghdady’s arrival meant someone had to make the switch to right side, which turned out to be Viles. Baghdady, a 6-9 Swiss import, stormed onto the Canada West scene and finished just behind Viles at .326 in hitting percentage, good for third in the conference.

“What he did this year as a rookie, I don’t think we’ve seen anybody quite that solid in all aspects of their game,” Wilson said. “We’ve had some extremely talented rookies that have come in and had a major impact right away.

“Robin coming right out of high school at 19 years old, to do what he did, it’s spectacular.”

Baghdady, who is the Canada West men’s second star of the week, finished fourth in the conference with 0.49 aces per set.

The team’s other outside embodies the student-athlete title like none other. With a perfect grade-point average and a Medical College Admissions Test score in the 99th percentile, Friesen was a clear-cut choice for the student-athlete community service award.

“It’s great for Seth. He fully deserves being recognized that way. He’s an unbelievable player, a phenomenal student and even better person,” Wilson said.

Friesen, a 6-8 Wheat City product, grew up playing for the Brandon Volleyball Club and has coached teams within the organization since making the leap to the university level. Receiving an honour that recognizes his stellar numbers on and off the court, along with giving back to the community, is meaningful. It’s the latter he’s most proud of.

“The community involvement, where I get to coach and play the role a lot of the Bobcat guys played for me when I was coming through the system, has been the coolest part for me,” Friesen said. “Coaching with BVC, coaching my younger brother, got to coach with my dad, it’s really cool.”

Altogether, BU’s award-winning athletes make for quite the arsenal for Dixon to give the ball to.

“In my opinion, I have three of the best outsides in the nation. When I’m making decisions at the net, it makes it quite easy for me,” he said.

Rounding out the team’s honours is Wilson, who is now a two-time Canada West coach of the year.

“It is definitely an honour, but I feel it’s really a team award, as it’s a reflection of our whole team’s success and coaching staff’s efforts,” Wilson said. “I’m just the fortunate one with my name attached to it.”

tfriesen@brandonsun.com

Twitter: @thomasmfriesen