WINNIPEG – Three different Bisons had at least ten digs, and there were a combined 91 on Friday night at IGAC, as the No. 3 nationally ranked Manitoba Bisons knocked off the Winnipeg Wesmen in a four-set thriller (25-22, 22-25, 25-13, 25-8).
 
Julia Arnold – Manitoba's Player of the Game – and Raya Surinx led the charge on defence, recording 12 digs each, while captain Light Uchechukwu had ten. As a team, Manitoba dug the ball 54 times.
 
Offensively, the nation's leading passer Katreena Bentley had 45 assists, and the nation's leading attacker Raya Surinx put up 16 kills, while Ella Gray had ten.
 
Winnipeg was led by 13 digs from libero Taylor Cangemi and three aces from Selva Planincic.
 
Along the way, the Herd brought the Duckworth Challenge trophy back to the UM campus after a one-year absence, breaking a 2-2 tie after the Wesmen men's volleyball team had won in the earlier game.
 
It's Manitoba's 19th career win in the challenge, with all three women's teams getting victories in 2023-24 (soccer, women's basketball, women's volleyball).
 
The win improves the Bisons record to 16-3, top four in Canada West, while Winnipeg fell to 6-13. The two teams will play again tomorrow at 6:45 at the Duckworth Centre downtown.
 
"There's always that extra little sauce when we play each other," said Bisons head coach Ken Bentley.
 
"Regardless of where the teams are in the standings, it's always kind of present. I thought we played better as we went along, but they stayed in the fight, and we fully expected that. We were totally aware of their scrappiness and tenacity. They played some amazing defence and we just had to keep hitting and be persistent. I thought we did a better job of that as the match went along,"
 
An uncharacteristic eight attack errors kept the Wesmen in the game in the first. They led 14-13 following a Planincic kill, but Surinx, who had 15 attacks in the first, responded for Manitoba.
 
She had four of her six kills in Manitoba's final 12 points, while Eve Catojo gave the hosts a 15-14 lead on an ace and the Bisons didn't trail afterwards.
 
Surinx ended the first on a cross court kill from the right, while she and Catojo both had two aces.
 
The Wesmen trailed 5-0 early, thanks to Surinx's third ace and a block and kill from Catojo, but Winnipeg didn't go away. The two sides played gritty volleyball, with a combined 34 digs.
 
Cangemi inspired her side, leading all players with six digs in the second. Her unintentional dig off the face led to Winnipeg's first point, and the battle was on from there. 

Uchechukwu had four digs for Manitoba, while Andi Almonte subbed in and had two key digs and two kills to keep the ball in play, but errors continued to cost the hosts. Winnipeg also had four service aces, playing inspired from the back line.
 
Manitoba's five errors ended a few long rallies, while Jaya Dzikowicz had five kills, helping bring the Wesmen back, eventually taking a 22-21 lead on a line shot.
 
A Surinx (game high 11 kills after two) back row kill narrowed Winnipeg's lead to 23-22, but a Dzikowicz kill and Planincic block gave the Wesmen the set.
 
Manitoba controlled play in the third.
 
Bentley got everyone involved early, finding Surinx, middle Brenna Bedosky and Uchechukwu for kills as the Herd led by five and steadily increased their momentum from there.
 
Bentley had eight assists in the third and 30 through three, while Surinx put the game to bed at the service line.
 
With the score 16-10, the left side helped Manitoba score seven points in the row at the end of the set, including two aces, as the Wesmen had no answer to her aggressive jump-spin serve. Her 40 attacks in the game also led all players.
 
"[Surinx] found her rhythm there a little later on," said Bentley.
 
"She had to hit her way through it too throughout the match. She made a few mistakes in the early part of the match, but I'm like hey, the only thing you can't do is stop hitting. You cannot do that. She did a really good job of staying persistent."
 
The fourth was yet again all Manitoba. A collective effort defensively led to countless rallies going Manitoba's way, including a diving dig from Gray that led to a Manitoba point.
 
Bentley kept a versatile attacking going, running the middle with Catojo for five kills, along with c-ball and cross-court smashes from Surinx in a dominant 17-point set win.
 
"[Katreena] moves the ball around well to all the different zones. When we're doing that effectively, I think it's difficult for other teams," said Ken.
 
"I thought we ran some nice back rows today. I thought that was really good for her. We filled up the middle on some pipes and some c's."