HAMILTON – On Saturday night at the Burridge Gymnasium on the McMaster campus, a capacity crowd of over 1800 fans witnessed one of the best university volleyball games in recent memory.
 
Trailing two sets to one in the national semi-finals, the No. 1 seeded Manitoba Bisons battled back against the No. 4 seeded Alberta Pandas to take the game to five, showing the same tenacity and heart they'd displayed all season.  
 
The fifth went to extra points, where a matter of inches determined the winner.
 
A Pandas serve took an unfortunate bounce, resulting in an ace to make it 17-16, and then a Manitoba attack from the left went just long out the back to end the match.
 
But that's not what Bisons fans who witnessed this game will talk about.
 
What they will talk about is Player of the Year Raya Surinx – not at one hundred percent health-wise – sprinting into her own bench in the third set, taking multiple chairs with her and sacrificing her body to save a rally that Manitoba won on a Light Uchechukwu kill.
 
What they will talk about is libero Julia Arnold, outside hitter Ella Gray and middle Brenna Bedosky sprawling with one hand, digging the ball furiously and refusing to let it die with the score 14-13 in the fifth.
 
What they will talk about is left and right side Andi Almonte, braving the pain of injury to step up for her team. She scored the set winner in the fourth, keeping a challenging serve in play, delivering a bump on the money to setter Katreena Bentley, who then passed back to Almonte – behind the Herd's attack line at the time – for a kill that sailed all the way to the opposition's end line.
 
What they will talk about is the collective effort of a group that put their bodies on the line for each other from start to finish, to the tune of 82 digs. That total included a team-high 21 from Arnold, 17 from Uchechukwu, 14 from Surinx and 12 from Bentley.
 
"Play the long game," said head coach Ken Bentley prior to the match.
 
"Stay in the rally, stay patient."
 
"We are who we are," added assistant coach Michelle Sawatzky-Koop.
 
"What we have is enough. I will say that every match."
 
Sawatzky-Koop couldn't be more accurate. Regardless of result, every student-athlete played Bisons volleyball and did their province proud.
 
Whether it was middle Eve Catojo committing all of her 6'1" frame to save a rally, or right side Chelsea Siebenga rising to the occasion in the quarterfinals with eight digs when she was needed most, or libero Emma Benson calmly stepping into the semis in the fifth set and saving a rally with one hand that the Herd eventually won, each and every Bison did their part.
 
"I couldn't ask for more," said Bentley.
 
"We just played our hearts out and stayed in it right until the bitter end. That's what national semi-finals are. You can't wish for easy. They're going to be hard. We were totally ready for it. No excuses. We were just two points short in the end."
 
For Manitoba, the fight's not over.
 
Tomorrow, the Herd have the chance to win a medal at nationals for the first time in a decade.
 
It's a opportunity to "finish better than we did last year," said Sawatzky-Koop.
 
"We can still take a step forward."
 
Veteran Keziah Hoeppner – who will graduate this year – said it best in the locker room following Saturday's tough loss.
 
"Just like Ken always says we flush the match, as much as we flush wins, we need to flush our loss too. We have a match to play tomorrow," said the well-respected senior, who's endured back-to-back season-ending knee injuries, but continues to give back and mentor.
 
"I don't want you to go blaming yourself, either. Do no spend this evening thinking about your mistakes. I want you to think about the great plays that you made in that game, because there were so many great plays. I don't want any of you to feel bad about yourselves. We're going to come back here tomorrow, and we're going to win a volleyball game. This does not determine your worth. You guys are all amazing human beings. I love you all. Just be proud of yourselves."
 

Tomorrow's match will be the last in the careers of Hoeppner and captain Uchechukwu. Rest assured, their teammates will play their hearts out, especially for their seniors.
 
"I'm so grateful for their commitment, for them to stay in the fight and keep training and scratching and clawing to get better. I think we did a really good job of that," said Bentley.
 
"Now, it's almost collegial, really in a way. That's what you like to see. By the time someone gets to their fourth, fifth year it should be much more of a collegial, cooperative relationship. I think we've arrived at that station with much of this group.