VANCOUVER, BC – The five versus six matchup for bronze at nationals was nothing short of sensational, as the No. 6 seed Manitoba and No. 5 seed Dalhousie went to extra points in five to decide a winner.
On game point twice, the Herd were unable to close out the game, as Dalhousie stormed back with a kill followed by a block from Talia Vydykhan to win the match 3-2 (16-25, 25-21, 11-25, 25-21, 18-16).
Lucy Glen-Carter, the AUS MVP, led all players with 20 kills. Manitoba was led by 15 kills from
Raya Surinx, while
Katreena Bentley had 55 assists,
Julia Arnold recorded 30 digs and
Andi Almonte, Manitoba's Player of the Game, added 22 and 12 kills.
Both sides dominated for spurts of the match, with Manitoba going on a 12-2 run in the first set, and 10-2 run in the third to lead 2-1. Dalhousie didn't back down however.
Trailing 7-3 and 9-6 in the fourth, they went on a run of their own, taking an 11-10 lead off a kill from Glen-Carter.
Dal opened up a 15-11 lead off a Grace Calnan ace, one of six in the game for the Tigers, and while Manitoba got the game back to within one, thanks to three consecutive kills from captain
Light Uchechukwu off the bench, they never took the lead again.
In the deciding set, the two sides traded leads. Dalhousie was up by one at the technical timeout, but the Herd stormed back. An
Eve Catojo solo block, one of a career-high four, gave Manitoba a 12-10 lead.
Glen-Carter made it a one-point game, but Uchechukwu tallied two of her own, including one cross-court as setter
Katreena Bentley (who had 55 assists) looked to her often in the dying minutes.
Uchechukwu's second kill (cross-court) made it 14-12, but the Tigers scored two in a row to tie it, including another kill from Glen-Carter, who did significant damage with three of her four kills coming late in the set.
A block by Uchechukwu and
Brenna Bedosky diving to their right gave Manitoba their second game point opportunity, however Vydykhan smashed home a point to tie it.
The Herd appeared to take the lead on the following point, as
Ella Gray – who had 13 kills, 13 digs and an assisted block – went hard off hands from the right, however the officials ruled the ball landed on Manitoba's side in an extremely close call.
Andi Almonte tied the game on a roll shot afterwards, but Vydykhan stormed back for the last two points and the win.
Despite the result, Manitoba leaves BC as the fourth-best team in the nation. No one on the roster graduates, meaning that the future is bright for this resilient group.
"I felt so confident in our team. We've grown so much over these past five weeks," said Gray, a BC native after the game.
"Our potential has grown so much, and we've just come together collectively as a team. Not only has my confidence in the team grown, so has my confidence in myself because of that."
"I think the biggest takeaway is how much effort it takes, and how much trust and energy you have to have in your team and yourself," she added.
"If you don't have that, you're not going to get far in this competitive sport. I think we showed how much of that we had at the end of the season, and how much potential we have for the future."
