LANGLEY, BC — The Manitoba Bisons came into this weekend needing to make a statement to keep their playoff drive alive. On Friday night at the Langley Events Centre, they did just that.
Down 0-2 to the No. 5 ranked Trinity Western Spartans, the Bisons won a crucial third set 26-24 and a wild fifth set 18-16 to finish off the upset win (19-25, 13-25, 26-24, 25-19, 18-16).
The win improves Manitoba to 12-11, while Trinity Western suffers their third straight loss to fall to 18-5. Two points up on Mount Royal with a game to go, the Bisons will need to await Saturday's results before knowing if they've clinched a playoff spot.
Leading the way for the Bisons was Laura Findlay, as the Delta, B.C. native had a team-high 16 kills playing in her home province. Findlay also had two aces and three blocks in the match.
Fifth-year libero Cassie Bujan was instrumental as well, as her 25 digs in the match gave her 426 in 2018-19, tying the Canada West record for most in a season. She will likely surpass that mark in Saturday's match.
If the first set was any indication, it didn't look like it would be a long match. The Spartans came out with a flurry, hitting .421 and holding a lead from start to finish. Trinity Western middle Avery Heppell had four kills in the set, just part of her career-high 20 in the match.
In the second, the Spartans also pulled away. Trinity Western opened a 17-7 lead at one point, taking nine of ten points off the Herd. The hitting percentage difference tells the story, as the Spartans hit .375 to the Bisons' .111.
Manitoba changed the dimensions of the match in the third, though. They came out strong, taking a 4-0 lead and holding it into the technical timeout. The Spartans would chip away to take a lead at 20-19, but three straight points from the visitors at 24-23 would stave off match point and send it to a fourth.
"Manitoba did a really good job of cleaning up their game," said Spartans head coach Ryan Hofer. "They made quite a few errors in that second set that put us in a good position. They cleaned up those errors and that really started to change things in the match."
In the fourth, Spartans errors and a varied Manitoba attack gave the Bisons a less stressful set win. Manitoba would total five blocks in the set as well, as both Kearley Abbott and Allison Alcock were strong at the net. They would eventually win 25-19.
The fifth set provided some entertaining volleyball on both sides. The Bisons rode momentum out to a 6-3 lead, but a missed serve capped a solid stretch of Spartans play, giving them an 11-9 advantage. Then, Manitoba responded with a gutsy 4-0 stretch of points, seemingly sealing it at 13-11.
The runs didn't stop there. Trinity Western responded with three straight to take their second match point at 14-13. They would get two more opportunities, but the Bisons would fend them all off. A Laura Findlay service ace at 17-16 went off a pancake dig and out of bounds — sealing an impressive win for Manitoba.
The Spartans and Bisons will meet again tomorrow at 7 p.m. CST. You can watch the match live on CanadaWest.TV.
