Box Score Winnipeg, MB – The Bison women's volleyball team captured a 3-0 win (25-23, 31-29, 25-19) against the Thompson Rivers University Wolfpack to split their double-header Saturday, Nov. 22, at the University of Manitoba's Investors Group Athletic Centre. The win brings the Bisons to 6-8 for the season while the Wolfpack now sits at an even 7-7.
The first set was hotly contested and finished with the Bisons winning 25-23. The Wolfpack's Iuliia Pakhomenko and the Bisons' Rachel Cockrell both came out strong with 8 kills in the first.
The next set proved to be even closer than the first, ending with a rally that saw both teams struggling to close the set. After a timeout with the home team leading 28-27, the Wolfpack took back the lead only to have the Bisons tie it up at 29. A joint block by Cockrell and Jordana Milne gave the Bisons the lead before they went on to take the set 31-29.
Friday's game also saw the Bisons take an early 2-set lead, but the Wolfpack gained momentum and rallied back for a hard-fought win. "Last night's match didn't even come into play, as it shouldn't. New night, new match," said Head Coach Ken Bentley.
The home team seemed determined to deny a repeat of Friday's performance. After falling to an early deficit in the third set, a kill by Cockrell led to a rally that had the Bisons bring the set to 20-18. They would ride this momentum to finish strong with 25-19, leading to a win in three straight sets.
The Wolfpack's Pakhomenko was the leading scorer with 25 points, 24 of which were kills, but she struggled with her serves, missing all five.
Cockrell led scoring for the Bisons with 20 points and 19 of those came from kills.
The Bisons are finishing the year with a by-week, which Coach Bentley calls a "double-edged sword". "We've gone 9 weekends in a row," he explained, "We had a really hard first half, playing great teams every week. We certainly proved that we are good enough to play any team in this conference."
This game was the last game of 2014 for Manitoba, while Thompson Rivers will face off against the University of Alberta at Thompson Rivers University next weekend.
