Bisons beat provincial rivals in men's volleyball in four sets

Manitoba now 17-4; Bisons and Brandon play again on Sat., Feb. 13

Box Score WINNIPEG - The #4 University of Manitoba Bisons won their third straight game in men's volleyball on Friday, February 12 night, taking the first of a doubleheader against the Brandon University Bobcats 3-1 (25-17, 25-22, 22-25, 25-21) at Investors Group Athletic Centre.

With the win, the Bisons are now 17-4, while the Bobcats are 5-16 and on a six-game loss streak. The Bisons have already clinched a playoff spot in the Canada West division, but Bison head coach Garth Pischke said he wants to see his team play harder.

"I thought our [intensity] level was pretty low tonight," he said after the game. "We had a lot of weaknesses. A couple guys had weak practices, and how you practice is how you play."

Brandon's Roy Ching led both teams with 25 kills, while Manitoba's Devren Dear had 18 in the win.

Dear, Adam DeJonckheere and Ken Rooney each put up four kills in the first set, and Brandon struggled to keep up. The Bobcats lost seven of the first eight rallies, mostly on bad digs, to give Manitoba an early lead. The Bobcats put up a fight toward the end of the set, but they couldn't keep up with the Bisons. Manitoba co-captains Kevin Falconer and Rooney led the home attack line offense with big blocks and powerful hits to quickly take the set 25-17.

But the Bobcats almost evened the score in the second. Brandon tied the set at seven on a Bison attack error before a James Weir kill gave them the lead. Manitoba struggled to gain any ground through most of the quarter, and only scored five more points to trail Brandon 16-12 at the technical timeout. The Bisons battled back, tying the set at 18 and winning the hard-fought second 25-22 on a Dear kill that landed on the backcourt line.

The tight game continued in the third with powerful attacks from both sides. Ching put up eight kills in the set, while DeJonckheere had six. The Bisons and Bobcats fought back and forth, and neither team held more than a three-point advantage through the entire set until the final rally, when Dear hit a side out and the Bobcats took the third 25-22.

The Bisons started the fourth with an early but disputed lead. Brandon head coach Grant Wilson took a yellow card after he challenged officials on a call that gave Manitoba a 2-0 advantage. The Bisons stayed ahead, despite "a lot of unforced errors" and questionable calls, Pischke said.

"I told them to pretend we're on the road for playoffs," he said when asked how he kept his team motivated through the final set. Dear seemed to hear the message. He put up six kills in the fourth and was an instrumental force in the Bison offense, leading the home team to a 25-21 set victory.

Pischke said the Bisons will need to be more consistent and put up stronger blocks to "neutralize" Ching and the rest of the Bobcats when they play Saturday, Feb. 13 at 3 p.m. CT at Investors Group Athletic Centre.

Set scores:
Manitoba: 25-25-22-25: 3
Brandon: 17-22-25-21: 1

Kill leaders
Manitoba: Devren Dear (18), Adam DeJonckheere (12) and Ken Rooney (11)
Brandon: Roy Ching (25), Brady Nault (8) and three players (5)

Dig leaders
Manitoba: Devren Dear (9), Kevin Falconer (8) and three players (6)
Brandon: Joel Makara (10), Brady Nault (7) and Roy Ching (6)

Assist leaders
Manitoba: Luke Herr (50), Ken Rooney (1) and Caleb Hickok (1)
Brandon: David Stasica (46) and three players (1)

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