The Manitoba Bisons women’s volleyball team is one step closer to playing for a CIS National Championship. The squad defeated the University of Toronto Varsity Blues by a 3-0 (25-21, 25-20, 25-19) score in the CIS quarter final match on Friday, March 5.

Manitoba is the third seed for the 2010 CIS Women’s Volleyball National Championship being held from March 5-7 at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. They will now face #7 seed Alberta Pandas in the CIS Semi Final match on Saturday, March 6 at 9 p.m. CT.

The Bisons (15-5 regular season; 4-1 playoffs) had some jitters as they played their first match at the CIS Championship since 2007. Manitoba rallied with setter Sam Loewen service ace and a huge block to rattle off four of the last five points to win the first set 25-21. After the first set, the Herd settled into a better rhythm and had a lead as high as six points before pushing to a second set win of 25-20. In the third and final set, Manitoba was down 11-10 and then won six of the next eight points to lead 16-13 at the second timeout. Bison Tricia Mayba was strong in the middle with a couple of tips and kills as the Bisons rolled to a 25-19 set victory.

Bison women’s volleyball head coach Ken Bentley commented, “Only three players had gone this far in their CIS career and a little jittery at start for the team. We passed the ball well in the third set. There are no complaints with this win, we just want to be good, better and best throughout this weekend.”

In the quarter final match, Manitoba was led by middle Tricia Mayba with ten kills and four blocks, outside hiiter Ashley Voth had nine kills plus seven digs and left side Kate Wasyliw registered seven kills and eight digs. Setter Sam Loewen distributed 30 assists and two service aces while Manitoba had a .483 hitting percentage in the third set. Libero Nicole Hall was named Manitoba’s Player of the Match as she had 18 digs and one kill.

Since 1981, this was the fifth time both Manitoba and Toronto met in the CIS Championship and the Bisons own a 5-0 record over the Varsity Blues. The last match-up between the two teams was in the 1999 CIS Championship when Manitoba won 3-0 in sets prior to the rally service point system.

The Bisons improve their CIS Championship record to 39-15 record in 19 CIS Championship appearances since 1982. Manitoba is second in wins at CIS Nationals.

2010 CIS Championship WVB Seeding: 
1. University of British Columbia
2. Université de Montréal
3. University of Manitoba
4. University of Regina
5. Université Laval
6. University of Toronto
7. University of Alberta
8. Saint Mary’s University

Friday, March 5 (all times are Central Time)
2 p.m. UBC 3 Saint Mary’s 0    
3:30 p.m. Laval 3 Regina 0
7:30 p.m. Manitoba 3 Toronto 0  
9 p.m. Alberta 3 Montréal 0

Saturday, March 6
2 p.m. Saint Mary’s vs. Regina  
3:30 p.m. Toronto vs. Montréal
7:30 p.m. Semi-Final #1: UBC vs. Laval 
9 p.m. Semi-Final #2: Manitoba vs. Alberta

Sunday, March 7
1 p.m. 5th Place Game   
4 p.m. Bronze Medal Game   
7 p.m. Gold Medal Game

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Volleyball Box Score
  Tor Varsity Blues vs Manitoba Bisons (Mar 05, 2010 at U of A, Edmonton, AB)

   Tor Varsity Blues      |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1  Kathleen Mahannah...  3|  1   0   4  .250| 32|  0   0|  0|  2| 0  1  0|  0
8  Karlee Diesing......  3|  7   5  31  .065|  0|  0   2|  2| 14| 0  0  0|  0
9  Heather Bansley.....  3| 13   7  37  .162|  0|  1   2|  2| 10| 0  0  0|  0
10 Kristina Valjas.....  3|  8   2  20  .300|  0|  0   2|  0|  6| 1  1  0|  0
11 Shannon Rossall.....  3|  1   3   8 -.250|  0|  0   2|  0|  0| 0  1  0|  0
15 Lauren Willoughby...  3|  8   1  15  .467|  0|  0   1|  0|  1| 0  1  0|  0
2  Katrina Rossall.....  2|  0   0   1  .000|  0|  1   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
4  Rebecca Crosier.....  1|  0   0   2  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
18 Michelle Wood.......  3|  0   0   0  .000|  2|  0   0|  1| 14| 0  0  0|  0
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Totals..............  3| 38  18 118  .169| 34|  2   9|  5| 47| 1  4  0|  0

 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 3.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  11  7  41  .098   GAME SCORES               1  2  3  TEAM RECORDS
   2  12  5  44  .159   Tor Varsity Blues... (0) 21 20 19  0-1
   3  15  6  33  .273   Manitoba Bisons..... (3) 25 25 25  1-0

   Manitoba Bisons        |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
2  Tricia Mayba........  3| 10   2  20  .400|  0|  1   2|  0|  4| 0  4  0|  0
4  Kate Wasyliw........  3|  7   2  21  .238|  0|  0   1|  0|  8| 0  1  0|  0
7  Kristi Hunter.......  3|  3   2  14  .071|  1|  0   0|  0|  7| 0  0  0|  0
9  Nicole Hall.........  3|  1   0   1 1.000|  1|  0   0|  2| 18| 0  0  0|  0
11 Ashley Voth.........  3|  9   1  24  .333|  1|  0   0|  0|  7| 0  2  0|  0
12 Amy Penner..........  3|  3   4   7 -.143|  1|  2   0|  0|  3| 0  2  0|  0
13 Sam Loewen..........  3|  3   0   4  .750| 30|  2   2|  0|  8| 1  3  0|  0
14 Sarah Morrissette...  3|  4   2  14  .143|  2|  0   0|  0|  2| 0  0  0|  0
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Totals..............  3| 40  13 105  .257| 36|  5   5|  2| 57| 1 12  0|  0

 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 7.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  12  6  43  .140   Site: U of A, Edmonton, AB (Main Gym)
   2  13  6  33  .212   Date: Mar 05, 2010   Attend: 300   Time: 1hr 30mi
   3  15  1  29  .483   Referees: Larry Lerbekmo, Murray Sackman