Wesmen finish fifth at nationals

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This article was published 24/03/2025 (556 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

BRANDON — The University of Winnipeg Wesmen did what got them a Canada West men’s volleyball title and the No. 1 ranking in the country on Sunday.

They scored at will and stifled the Windsor Lancers attack to the tune of 25 kills and 22 errors, earning a 3-0 (25-18, 25-25, 25-21) sweep in the fifth-place match of the U Sports championship at the Healthy Living Centre on Sunday afternoon.

“Tough start in our first game, obviously, as we know, but I think the guys did a great job to rally for the last two games here,” said captain Paxton Koop.

“Those are not really super fun to play, obviously we’re grateful for the experience here at nationals but I think we did a great job especially (Saturday) being down 2-0 with the reverse sweep and then (Sunday) pretty solid game start to finish.”

The Wesmen essentially had one hiccup in the last six weeks. It just had to be against a near-perfect Brandon University Bobcats side in the quarterfinals on Friday.

The Wesmen took two more sets to settle in during the consolation semifinal against the Ontario University Athletics champion Queen’s Gaels, but fought back to be one of six teams playing on the final day of the season.

On Sunday, Winnipeg had 37 kills and just 16 errors, serving eight aces and adding nine blocks for a dominant victory over next year’s nationals host.

They lose fifth-years Isaiah Olfert and Ben Traa but can return the rest of their star-studded lineup in 2025-26.

“We’re all pretty grateful for this experience, not everyone gets to do this in their entire career,” Koop said.

“We had a great time, we enjoyed our time … but we can take this and use this experience for next year as well.”

Winnipeg led 14-13 when left side Jaxon Rose scored on two out-of-system balls in a row, then pressured Colin Hutchison into an error for a 17-13 advantage.

The Wesmen pulled further away after Lancers setter Markus Law-Heese was called for a lift on a two-handed reverse dump, then Luke Lodewyks painted the back line for an ace to lead 21-15.

Law-Heese tried another two-hander, this time forwards, and got called again to help Winnipeg cruise to a 1-0 lead.

Winnipeg took control of the second set earlier, as Olfert blasted a pair of attacks off hands to the floor on a four-point run to lead 9-5.

Lodewyks was unstoppable after that. The lefty rattled off three kills as Winnipeg’s defence turned around one point after the next to lead 17-9.

The Wesmen wasted no time putting the set to bed, making just one error on the next 14 points to go ahead 2-0.

Koop went on his second four-point serving run of the afternoon to make it 16-12 in the third, mostly on Windsor errors.

The Wesmen never trailed again, and the fifth-years finished it. Olfert picked up his match-high 14th kill to bring up match point.

— The Brandon Sun