U of W makes quick work of Laval at Wesmen Classic

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This article was published 29/12/2023 (670 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg Wesmen have been running hot and cold during the first half of the U Sports men’s volleyball season.

On Friday night, the fifth-ranked hosts cranked up the temperature considerably as they thrashed the No. 12 Laval Rouge et Or 3-0 (25-15, 25-16, 25-16) in third-round action at the Wesmen Classic at the Duckworth Centre.

“I think we have all the tools in place that we can be very successful as a team and I think what you saw there tonight was just us playing with a lot of confidence coming out right from the start and playing our game and playing it the right way, even when we were up big or if it was close,” said Winnipeg right side Liam Kristjanson, who finished the game with three kills and three service aces.

The Wesmen, 3-0 so far in the Classic’s West Pool, wrap up their tournament Saturday with a matchup against the Dalhousie Tigers at 7 p.m.

“It was a pretty big team effort,” said Wesmen middle Paxton Koop, who was 90 per cent efficient on the attack with nine kills and one service ace. “All the guys were contributing, even the bench today… I think it’s a really good sign for us moving forward.”

Nigel Nielsen led the Wesmen with 10 kills. Isaiah Olfert chipped in with six kills and three service aces.

“That’s a good team on the other side of the net and I knew we would have to play good to beat them today,” said Kristjanson. “I thought it was an exceptional game by us with a lot of success attacking. Nigel and Isaiah both had really big games. Paxton and Ethan (Duncan), the same thing. And a lot of success at the service line.”

Laval, which fell to 1-2 at the Classic, was not operating at full strength.

“We had three starters who are injured but at some point, there’s no excuses,” said Laval head coach Gino Brousseau. “I don’t want to take any risks because we have (conferences) matches starting on Jan. 12 and those are very important for the rankings.”

The Rouge et Or got a game-high nine kills from Anthony Urbain.

“It’s a good opportunity for my bench players to the play, especially the young players,” said Brousseau. “But they still need to learn and right now they learned the hard way.”

Meanwhile, the Manitoba Bisons improved to 2-1 in the West Pool after sweeping Dalhousie 3-0 (25-17, 25-20, 25-11). The Tigers are 2-1 in the East Pool.

Elsewhere, the Brandon Bobcats defeated the Guelph Gryphons 3-1 (25-22, 25-19, 22-25, 25-20) to improve to 2-1 in the West. Guelph is 0-3 in the East.

Meanwhile, the New Brunswick Reds edged the UBC Okanagan Heat, 3-1 (17-25, 25-17, 25-22, 28-26) to move to 2-1 in the East. The Heat are 0-3 in the West.

Prior to the game, the U of W honoured three of its former coaching greats by inducting Clarence (Wezer) Bridle, David Unruh and Dennis Nord into the Duckworth Centre’s Ring of Honour.

Bridle was the program’s first coach and went on to a distinguished career as an official while Nord played on Winnipeg’s first national title team and coached four consecutive national champions in the early 1970s. Bridle and Nord were inducted posthumously.

Unruh guided the Wesmen to back-to-back titles in 1986 and ‘87.

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca