WINNIPEG - The University of Manitoba Bisons men's volleyball team hit the court Saturday, Oct. 29 for the first of two games against the Thompson Rivers Wolfpack this weekend. The Bisons entered the match with a record of 0-2 on the season, after losses to Trinity Western last weekend to begin their Canada West campaign. 
 
Manitoba found themselves down 1-0 in sets early but responded with a narrow 25-22 second set victory to even the game back at one set apiece. From there on, the two teams battled for the next two sets which Thompson Rivers went on to claim by scores of 25-23 and 28-26 for the win. 
 
"We had a really nervous start to our game in the first set," stated Bisons Head Coach Lupo Ludwig. "I saw passing that wasn't as good as I know we can be. In the second set we starting serving better, not missing as many as we did in the first set and then later in the fourth. Overall, our execution today was not as good as it can be."
 
The Wolfpack improve their conference record to 2-1 on the season with the win, while the loss keeps the Bisons winless at 0-3. 
 
Manitoba dropped the opening set of the match 25-16, trailing the Wolfpack for the entire first frame. Despite the uneven score, Ben Carleton still managed to put down three kills on five total attacks for the Bisons to lead his team. The opposition's Thundersky Walkingbear recorded three kills of his own to match Carleton while his teammate Corbin Ockerman registered two kills on his only two attacks. 
 
In the second set, the Bisons jumped out to the early 9-5 lead, turning the momentum back after a disappointing first set. Manitoba stayed ahead for the rest of the set where they eventually held a 23-17 lead. The visitors cut down the Manitoba advantage to 24-22 but a block from third-year Matthew Campbell clinched the second set, leveling the match back to 1-1. 
 
The Herd carried their momentum into the third, grabbing a 7-2 lead to start. However, the Wolfpack answered with a 7-3 run to pull back to within one of Manitoba during what proved to be a tightly contested third set. With neither team able to pull away for the rest of the set, both sides battled to an 18-18 tie before Thompson Rivers took their first set lead at 20-18, forcing Ludwig to call a Bisons timeout. The break seemed to work for the Bisons as they fought back to tie the set at 22-22 after a well-timed kill from Carleton. However, up 24-23, the visitors reclaimed their one set advantage with a Sam Flowerday kill to clinch the third. 
 
The battle carried on into the fourth as the two sides fought to another tie at 10-10 to start and twice more later in the set at 17-17 and then 22-22. Down 25-24 and looking to extend the match, Manitoba's Campbell put down a monster kill to tie the game up at 25-25. Carleton followed up with his eighth kill to give the Herd a 26-25 lead. However, Thompson Rivers regrouped stringing together three-straight points to secure the fourth set and the match. 
 
"There were areas of our game that I thought were working really well we just weren't consistent," added Ludwig. "We will make some changes to our line up for tomorrow and hope we look better."
 
Both teams will be back at Investors Group Athletic Centre tomorrow at 2:45 p.m. for the final game of the weekend.