Box Score Winnipeg, MB – The fourth-ranked Bison men's volleyball team managed to keep their undefeated streak alive, capping off their weekend with a 3-1 (25-20, 25-20, 22-25, 25-18) match win over the Grant MacEwan Griffins at the Investors Group Athletic Centre on Oct. 31.With the home victory, Manitoba remains perfect in the Canada West regular season with a 6-0 record and Grant MacEwan falls to 1-5. It was a close contest Saturday afternoon as the Griffins spent the first two sets on the heels of the Bisons, and managed to gain the lead in the third. Impressive serving and consistent blocking made the difference for the home team, led by team co-captain
Adam DeJonckheere who finished with 14 kills, six digs and two blocks.
The first set saw the Griffins' Ryan McDonald scoring many impressive spikes that kept his team within one point halfway through—he ended the set with 7 kills. The Bisons managed to create some separation near the end by scoring a four-point run to win the set 25-19.
Grant MacEwan started the second set with a three-point lead, but Manitoba managed to close the gap and regain the lead following two service aces by team captain
Kevin Falconer that brought the Bisons to a 10-8 lead. Led by
Devren Dear and DeJonckheere, the Bison offense had success at the net and won the set 25-20.
The Griffins' luck turned around in the third set as they came from behind to take a late lead. A speedy spike by the Griffins' Max Vriend tied the set at 14-14, and it was back-and-forth after that. Two costly net violations by the Bisons helped the Griffins create some separation, and a kill by Edward McDonald ended the set with a 25-22 win for the visiting team.
The Bisons started the fourth set strong—looking determined to keep their undefeated streak alive. It was still a close contest until the Bisons found themselves up by six following a big spike from Dear that made it 21-15. Their offense remained resilient and a block by DeJonckheere ended the set and match with a 25-18 win.
Five different Bison players had a double-digit amount of kills, while three players for the Griffins did. Griffins' Ryan McDonald led the game with 19 kills, followed by Dear with 16. Vrien and Bison
Josh Crellin tied for the most blocks with four each.
The Bisons' next game is against Mount Royal University at 6p.m. on Nov. 6, while the Griffins' next game is on Nov. 13 against the University of Alberta.
