Bobcats Ready For Final Four

  The Brandon University men’s volleyball team squeezed into the Canada West playoffs, but the 10th ranked Bobcats appear to have found their stride when it counts.
 
  The defending conference champions swept their quarter-final against the UBC Thunderbirds in Vancouver to advance to this weekend’s Canada West Final Four in Langley, B.C.
 
  "It’s just now we see that ‘oh, if we wake up, we dominate whoever is on the other side of the net," said outside hitter Sebastien Steigmeier, "We’re going to give them hell and that’s what we’re planning to do this weekend."
 
  The Bobcats and second-ranked Trinity Western Spartans meet in one semifinal while the other has the Alberta Golden Bears going up against the Thompson Rivers WolfPack on Friday night.
 
  The winners will secure the two spots up for grabs into next week’s CIS national championship in Calgary.
 
  "You start thinking about expectations and start focusing on winning then when things aren’t going right the pressure just mounts to be too much and people buckle," said coach Grant Wilson. "My philosophy has always been the only thing you can control is the next play and the next touch on the ball and that’s what you’ve got to focus on and that’s what we’re going to keep it at."
 
  The Spartans got a first round bye after going 20-2 and didn’t lose a match on home floor during the regular season while the Bobcats got into the playoffs through a tiebreaker at 10-and-12.
 
  Brandon welcomed Trinity Western in January and the Bobcats split with the Spartans.
 
  BU knocked off them off in straight sets and then dropped a five-set thriller at the Healthy Living Centre.
 
  "I think our confidence is here. I wouldn’t say it’s because we beat them already, it’s because we’ve been playing good volleyball for a month-and-half now. We’ve seen that it’s possible; we’ve seen that, we’ve done it. I think we’re good and we’re ready," said Steigmeier.
 
  "They’re an extremely well rounded team; they have an extremely deep bench. They have lots of great players who have proven themselves. Trinity is a really tough place to play, they have an extremely good home record, but you can’t look at all those things. We’re just going to come out and play the way we play ball and beat them at home," said middle Frank Jones.