The #2 seed Manitoba Bisons men's volleyball team won 3-1 (25-22, 26-28, 25-23, 25-22) over the #4 seed Université Laval Rouge et Or in the Consolation Final match on Sunday, March 19 at the 2017 U SPORTS FOG Men's Volleyball Championship at the Saville Community Sports Centre (University of Alberta) in Edmonton.

With the match win, Manitoba ends this championship in fifth place.

This was the 12th match-up between Manitoba and Laval in a U SPORTS championship. Manitoba last faced the Rouge et Or in the 2012 nationals when Laval won 3-1 in the semifinal. Overall, the Bisons now hold a 9-3 record against Laval in U SPORTS championship  meetings and have won six of the previous seven matches.

In the first set, both teams had not met this season and it was a very early start time of noon in Alberta as both teams took a little bit to get the energy up. Manitoba grabbed an early lead at 6-2 as Luke Herr served tough and the Bisons pushed the lead to 11-5 before Laval made a back kill and tip for 12-10 and then the Bisons received kills from Adam DeJonckheere, two blocks and Dustin Spiring kill to move to 16-12 at the tech timeout. The Herd kept their four points advantage and made a huge double block for 24-21 and served out at 25-22. Devren Dear led with six kills with DeJonckheere had four kills after one.

In the second set, the two teams settled into a close battle as not more than two points separated them throughout the set. Both teams had numerous leads as there were ten lead changes and 22 tied scores. Laval inched ahead at 23-22 for a Bison timeout and then 24-23 before side outs to 26. Then, the Rouge et Or had a cross court kill and the Herd called on the net for a 28-26 set win for Laval. After two, Dear had 11 kills while Ken Rooney added seven kills with Evan Jackson and DeJonckheere at five each

In the third set, the Bisons and Rouge et Or showed why they were ranked in the Top 10 all season as another battle of no more than two points advantage for both during a set. There was another six lead changes and 18 ties while Laval looked poised to win the set after leading 22-21 and Manitoba took a timeout. The Bisons found their footing again as a miss hit by Laval, DeJonckheere service ace and a two block brought Manitoba to 24-22 and Dear finished off the set with a outside kill for a 25-22 result. In kills, Dear led (16), Rooney (8) followed by DeJonckheere and Jackson (7 each).

The fourth had Laval in the lead until Manitoba's Player of the Match Luke Herr started serving. Herr notched two quick service aces for a Laval timeout at 16-16 and then he continued to serve tough as Manitoba built up a 20-16 margin after Laval had trouble passing. After that, both teams side-out with Laval could only get as close as 23-21 before Bison captain Ken Rooney ended the match on a middle kill for a 25-22 set win for the victory.

Manitoba's Player of the Match was Luke Herr as he notched 50 assists, match-high ten digs, five kills and two service aces. 

"This is a tough game to play against an Eastern team as it is difficult to get up as not playing for a national championship, stated Bison head coach and 2016-17 U SPORTS Coach of the Year Garth Pischke after the win. "When the game was on the line, we did some good passes and it was nice to see. Plus, Luke stepped up with the run in the fourth."

For Manitoba, Dear led with a team-high 20 kills and 22 points, Jackson with ten kills and Rooney with nine kills. DeJonckheere and Spiring with seven kills. Dear added seven digs and Kevin falconer with five digs. Spiring had five total blocks and Dear with four blocks. The Bisons had 58 kills on .376 hitting percentage plus only 14 attack errors and five service aces.

"We made the most of it. You never want to lose the last game of the season," stated Bison captain Ken Rooney after the match win. "We went out and had some fun and this was the last time playing together and it was nice getting a 'W'."

Laval had a match-high 28 kills and 30.5 points from Vincente Ignacio Parraguirre Villalobos and Bruno Lortie registered 14 kills. Frederic Bolduc added a match-high 53 assists and ten digs. Vincent Thibault-Bernier added ten digs while Gabriel Araya Menares with six total blocks. The RSEQ champs had 60 kills but with 24 attack errors on .286 hitting percentage and three service aces.

Pischke reflected on the season and this championship results, "We didn't get a chance to play for a medal but lots of pride playing hard the last two matches and the team showed real character in winning the final two matches…It was a good career for the graduating players and they didn't take a step backwards throughout the season and improved every year." 

Rooney added, "This match was anti-climatic to end the season as the Quarter-final match was a disappointing result but it was nonetheless a good season all around with the 20 match win streak being first in conference regular season and this team had good guys and we had fun together." 

This was the first time the Bisons had qualified for the U SPORTS championship since the 2011-12 season and Manitoba was seeking a record 11th national championship in the program's history. The Herd last won the U SPORTS championship in the 2002-03 season and was a bronze medallist in the previous appearance by Manitoba in 2012 nationals.

Players of the Match:
Luke Herr – Manitoba
Vicente Ignacio Parraguirre Villalobos – Laval

Stats Leaders
Devren Dear – Manitoba with 20 kills
Vicente Ignacio Parraguirre Villalobos – Laval with 28 kills

Luke Herr – Manitoba with ten digs
Frederic Bolduc and Vincent Thibault-Bernier – Laval with ten digs 

Dustin Spiring – Manitoba with five total blocks
Gabriel Araya Menares – Laval with six total blocks

Luke Herr – Manitoba with 50 assists
Frederic Bolduc – Laval with 53 assists 

BISONS U SPORTS MEN'S VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONSHIP NOTES: In now 28 CIS MVB Championship appearances since 1978, Manitoba holds a 57-20 overall record in matches (74.0% win percentage). Both teams did not met in the 2016-17 season and the previous last meeting was back in the 2012-13 season when Laval won 3-2 in non-conference action at the Alden Cup Collegiate Classic Tournament at St. Petersburg, Florida on Jan. 4/13.
The veteran laden 17 person Bison team has eight graduating players on the roster (libero Caleb Hickok, setter Luke Herr, middle Josh Crellin, right side Devren Dear, left side Evan Jackson, libero Alex Strachan, assistant captain and left side/libero Kevin Falconer plus captain and middle Ken Rooney).