CALGARY – The No. 9 Manitoba Bisons men's volleyball team were no match for the University of Calgary Dinos on Fri., Jan. 10 when they won their first match of 2014 3-0 (25-21, 25-22, 27-25) at Jack Simpson Gymnasium. 

The Dinos continue to improve their record, now at 8-5, while the Bisons drop to 5-8, despite a top ten ranking. 

Calgary's offence was spread throughout their hitters tonight as both Greg Mann and Sean Tuff recorded nine kills in the three-set win. Ivan Kartev and Andrew Visser both scored seven kills each. Setter Alex Cook had a game-high 32 assists on the night.

For the Bisons, Devren Dear had a game-high 13 kills in the match followed by seven more from Adan DeJonckheere. Setter Luke Herr added 29 assists. 

In both teams' first game back from the break, the Bisons were the first to jump out to a quick lead at 11-8, thanks to a number of errors from the Dinos. It didn't help that both teams had trouble keeping their serves in at the beginning of the first set. Calgary would trail Manitoba 16-13 at the technical timeout. 

Gaining momentum with the help of Jeremias Guenter coming off the bench to serve, the Dinos found a way to tie the game up at 16. Using that momentum, Calgary went on a 5-0 run, forcing Manitoba to call their first timeout of the match. 

It didn't seem to prove useful as the Dinos continued to push towards the end of the set. Mann was coming up big for Calgary and would eventually lead them to a 25-21 win. 

In the second, nothing seemed to be working for the Dinos as Manitoba jumped out to a 6-2 lead. After a timeout from Calgary, the team picked up the pace, tying the game up at eight. In a very close set, the two teams on the court would see a tied score 14 times in the set, along with five lead changes. 

It was left-side Visser who helped get it done for the Dinos in the final points of the second set, coming up with a huge single block and a big tool to help close it out. The Dinos went on to take a 2-0 lead after defeating the Bisons 25-22. Dear would already have 10 kills on the night. 

The Dinos seemed like they could do nothing wrong in the third set, cruising to a 16-11 technical timeout lead. When Calgary built up their lead to six at 20-14, the Bisons were forced to use a timeout. From there, the Dinos' cushiony lead was squandered as Manitoba slowly began to fight back. 

With the Dinos unable to finish the set on match point on two different opportunities, Manitoba tied the game up at 24 and again at 25. Calgary survived the scare with a Bisons missed serve, followed by a kill from Tuff to end the set in extra points at 27-25. 

The Dinos and the No. 9 Bisons will go at it again tomorrow night. Game time is set for 6:30 p.m. MT following the women's match.