MANITOBA – The Bisons women's volleyball team lost in a dramatic match of five sets against the Brandon Bobcats on Saturday, Oct 21 at the Investors Group Athletic Centre. Brandon won 3-2 (22-25, 25-22, 25-23, 16-25, 15-10).  

After the first weekend of conference game action, both teams are at 1-1 record. 

"We just needed to be more aggressive," said power player Tori Studler of the Bisons.

The match began with huge hits and impressive digs from both sides. The Bobcats held a slight lead throughout the early points of the first set. A hard middle hit by Sami Love, and a power attack by Nikala Majewski were highlights of the Cats early play. The Bisons let almost nothing drop with 25 digs in the first set.

Bobcats pulled ahead after Majewski hit a backrow power attack that the home team couldn't get their hands on, bringing the score to 15-9 for the Cats. After hitting the ball into the antenna, the Bisons called a time out.

Brandon managed to hold the gap and sent nearly every set to power player Majewski, who attacked the ball 14 times in the set with three kills. 

The home team brought the score up to a tie at 22-22 and both teams were hitting the floor to make some stellar saves. Bobcats power Michelle Egger came out with seven digs, and Studler with ten. 

The Bisons managed to sneak by in the final points and win 25-22 following a huge hit from Laura Findlay, who led the Herd with six kills in the set.

Manitoba took an early lead in the second set after a big solo block and kill by Studler, bringing the score to 6-2. The home team's setter Brittany Habing made a dump on the net look easy, and managed to get a kill on a spike as well. Studler was the jack of all trades with eight kills and eleven digs in the set, and middle Emily Erikson put up her wall with four block attacks.

Worry for the Bisons came when they shanked three serve receives in a row and got blocked twice by the Cats. This brought the score to 23-22 in a huge comeback for Brandon. Blocking was the Bobcats means to a win, when a final block by Majewski ended the second set at 25-22 for the Cats.

Both teams were hitting the floor in the third set, and they kept the score close early on. The Bisons gained momentum and a five-point lead halfway through with the help of Studler's 12 power kills and libero Cassie Bujan's 14 digs. The Cats came back with great offense from right side Ravyn Wiebe and Majewski, bringing the score to 22-20 for the Bisons in the final points

The crowd went wild in disagreement when Wiebe hit a right side cross court that was called out by a flagman. The Bisons missed their serve immediately after the disputed point causing an eruption by Brandon fans. Wiebe pounded the ball from right side which was blocked, and came back down bouncing off Wiebe's shoulder in a successful dig to bring Brandon a lead of 24-23. In the final point, Sami Love tipped the ball cross court to win the dramatic third set 25-23 for the Bobcats.

Both teams came into the fourth set carrying the energy they built in the third. The home team pulled ahead 22-15 after some big attacks from Studler and Kearley Abbott. They managed to hold a comfortable lead till the end, with Erickson and Studler finishing the set 25-16 after two big blocks. Erickson set up her wall once again, with six blocks, and Studler and Kearley Abbott destroyed on offense with 13 kills from Abbott and 15 from Studler.

This brought the teams into a fifth and final set where the Bobcats gained a quick lead of 8-3 after a huge hit down the line by Wiebe. Wiebe continued to attack hard against the home team with eight kills in the set, but Erikson's wall helped to close the gap to 11-9. The Bisons couldn't pull it together, and shanked two serves in the final points of the set. Love finished the game 15-10 with a big middle hit that bounced off the Bisons block.

"Brandon is a good team and we knew they were going to come back stronger today," said Studler after the game.

Manitoba will play again on Friday night (Oct. 27) at 7 p.m. CT against the Calgary Dinos on the road and Brandon will play their next game at home against the Saskatchewan Huskies on Friday night at 6 p.m. CT. Both matches can be seen live on CanadaWest.TV.

Kills
MAN: Tori Studler - 16
BDN: Nikala Majewski - 15

Blocks
MAN: Emily Erickson - 7
BDN: Sami Love - 7

Digs
MAN: Cassie Bujan - 22
BDN: Caitlin Le - 22