LANGLEY, BC — Facing a team set to make noise at the national level, the Manitoba Bisons lost to the No. 2 ranked Trinity Western Spartans on Friday at the Langley Events Centre, falling in straight sets (25-11, 25-15, 25-22).
The win was the 18th in a row for the Spartans (17-4), who secured second place in the Canada West standings behind Brandon. The Bisons (7-14) were eliminated from post-season contention earlier in the evening after a win by eighth place UBC secured them the final seed.
Fourth-year Kevin Negus led the way for Manitoba, with a team-high ten kills. With his team out of the playoffs, coach Garth Pischke got some younger players in to battle against the Spartans. They responded well, as second-year left side Jon Laube had four kills and first-year middle Carter Butterfield had three.
The Spartans were led by ten kills from Jackson Howe, with Eric Loeppky chipping in nine and four blocks.
"They're playing out their last weekend of the season and working on their things and we're getting ready for playoffs. These last weekends are very complicated. But the message hasn't changed. We're trying to be consistent in our mindset," said Spartans head coach Ben Josephson.
"That being said, the other aspect is that it's always an honour to coach against Garth Pischke. He is such a legend in the game and has meant a lot to my own coaching career so any time I get the chance to coach against him, it's a cool experience."
The Spartans got off to a hot start thanks to a service run by Derek Epp, allowing them to jump out to an 11-2 lead. Their block was dominant throughout the match, with experienced players able to get over and challenge the Bisons' young hitters. In the first, the home side had six blocks, on their way to a 25-11 win.
In the second set, the Spartans hit an impressive .524, jumping out to another big lead and winning the set by ten.
The Bisons responded nicely to start the third. They jumped out to a 5-1 lead, but saw the Spartans slowly get back into it, tying it at 10-10. From there, Trinity Western sealed the deal, holding off the Bisons before a kill from Howe sealed proceedings at 25-22.
The Spartans and Bisons will meet again tomorrow at 9 p.m. CST. You can watch the match live on CanadaWest.TV.
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