#3 Bisons sweep Spartans in men's volleyball

Manitoba split on the weekend series against Trinity Western

Box Score WINNIPEG - The #3 University of Manitoba Bisons men's volleyball team redeemed itself after a tough loss to the Trinity Western University Spartans Friday night, winning Saturday's rematch 3-0 (25-16, 25-23, 25-16) at Investors Group Athletic Centre on Jan. 23.

The Bisons are now 13-3 with the win, while the Spartans fall to 9-9.

Manitoba's Devren Dear led both teams with 15 kills, while Trinity Western's Ryan Sclater had 12.

When asked what changed overnight, Bison head coach Garth Pischke said it all came down to a "little bit of hear and fear, knowing they're a good team."

Pischke said the Bisons were much more aggressive and served better, which helped keep the Spartans on guard and keep the visitors "on guard."

The game was intense from the first serve. The Bisons won six straight rallies and boasted a 16-9 lead at the technical timeout before the game started to even out. The teams traded points for the rest of the set, but the Spartans couldn't catch the home team. Dear had six kills in the set alone and Adam DeJonckheere, Kevin Falconer and Ken Rooney each put up three. DeJonckheere made two straight kills to give Manitoba a 23-15 advantage, and the Bisons later took the set 25-16.

Trinity Western opened the second with a short serve. They racked up five total service errors in the set, but the Spartans still seemed to hold the upper hand through most of the close rallies. The Bisons trailed for most of the set but Dear tied the game at 18 with a powerful kill. He gave Manitoba the lead on the next rally with another kill, and, minutes later, DeJonckheere won the set 25-23 with a kill of his own.

The Bisons started the third with a 3-0 lead and stayed ahead for the rest of the game. The Spartans continued to struggle with service errors, while the home team capitalized on their mistakes to lead 16-9 at the technical timeout. Trinity Western held Manitoba at match point for three straight rallies – thanks to two kills from Leigh Goossen and a Bison attack error – but Josh Crellin won it for the Bisons with a kill on the next rally. Manitoba took the set 25-16 and the game 3-0.

"We have to believe every game is like our last of the season and not think about playoffs," Pischke said.

Next week, Trinity Western has a bye, and the Bisons will take on the Thompson Rivers University WolfPack on Friday, January 29 at 9:45 p.m. CT. All matches shown on canadawest.tv.

Set scores:
Manitoba: 25-25-25-3
Trinity Western: 16-23-16: 0

Kill leaders:
Manitoba: Devren Dear (15), Ken Rooney (10) and Adam DeJonckheere (8)
Trinity Western: Ryan Sclater (12), Blake Scheerhoorn (11) and Aaron Boettcher (4)

Dig leaders:
Manitoba: Devren Dear (14), Luke Herr (6) and Alex Strachan (5)
Trinity Western: Devyn Plett (6), two players (4) and Tyler Koslowsky (3)

Assist leaders:
Manitoba: Luke Herr (34), Adam DeJonckheere (2) and two players (1)
Trinity Western: Devyn Plett (21), Adam Schriemer (8) and Tyler Koslowsky (2)

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