Hopeful Blazers Gearing Up For Final Fours In Brandon This Weekend
With the MCAC Basketball Championship come and gone and the Women's Volleyball team completing their regular season without a playoff berth, CMU's last hope for a 2015 Conference Championship in a full varsity sport will be decided this weekend on the volleyball court at Assiniboine Community College in Brandon; host of the 2015 MCAC Volleyball Final Fours.
Under first-year coach Don Dulder, the Blazers have finished with a 9-7 record through the regular season and find themselves as the second seed scheduled to face the 8-8 Providence Pilots in Saturday's 6 pm men's semifinal. CMU can certainly take confidence from their four meetings with the Pilots this season, winning matches on three occasions.
"As long as we play the best we can, we should have a great shot of winning," said second-year captain Joel Kliewer, "In our three wins against Providence we came into the game with energy and played the game we're capable of playing."
Perhaps the greatest challenge that CMU will face will be the mental obstacle of overcoming a dropoff in their play during the second half of the season. After the Christmas break, the Blazers have only managed to produce a record of 4-4 and completed the regular season with consecutive losses; first to the undefeated Red River Rebels and then to the fourth-seed USB Rouges.
"The positives that we can take from the USB match, in particular, is that we are reminded that any team can win over the course of a single best of five match," said third year libero Thomas Friesen, "With our playoff spot already locked up, the last two games were a chance to test some different rotations and combinations. It is easy to forget what the scoreboard said and focus on how those games will help prepare our team overall to be our best in this weekend's Championship."
Should the Blazers successfully push past Providence on Saturday night, CMU will face the winner of Red River and USB at 4 pm on Sunday afternoon in the 2015 MCAC Volleyball Championships Men's Final. All matches will be played at Assiniboine Community College in Brandon.
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