Box Score In their final game of the season the MacEwan University Griffins men's volleyball team dropped a tough 3-1 (25-23, 23-25, 25-19, 25-14) match to the #7 University of Manitoba Bisons on Sunday, February 8 afternoon at City Center Campus Gymnasium.
With the road match win, the Bisons complete the 2014-15 Canada West conference regular season with a 14-10 record and fourth spot in the standings. The Bisons will now host the 2015 Canada West Quarter-Final best-of-three series a against #9 UBC Thunderbirds (13-11). Game one will be on Friday, February 13 at 7 p.m. CT, game two on Saturday, February 14 at 7 p.m. CT and game three (if necessary) on Sunday, February 15 at 6 p.m. CT. All playoff matches to be held at Investors Group Athletic Group (U of Manitoba campus).
The Griffins came out strong, building a 7-3 lead early in the first set. An 8-2 run brought the Bisons back and they would eventually take the set 25-23. Luke Herr and Devren Dear paced the Bisons attack with 10 assists and six kills respectively.
In the middle of the second set the Griffins rallied with five straight points to take the lead. The Griffins were able to hold off a late Bisons run to take the set 25-23. Lee Iverson picked up five kills in the set to lead the way for the Griffins.
After a 5-2 start in the third set, the Griffins gave up a 13-3 run to the Bisons. Coming out of the technical timeout the Griffins cut into the deficit but were never able to mount a comeback, dropping the set 25-19. Dear continued to be the go-to hitter for the Bisons with six more kills.
The Bisons opened up a 6-2 lead to start the fourth set and didn't look back as the Griffins were unable to recover and dropped the final set 25-14. Herr finished the match with 46 assists, including 14 in the final set.
In his final game with the Griffins, graduating outside hitter Zach Brown had ten kills and six digs to earn player of the game honours. Dustin Spiring picked up five kills and six digs to earn the award for the Bisons.