Box Score HAMILTON – All tournament, Bisons assistant coach Michelle Sawatzky-Koop has provided the women's volleyball team with closing words before they exit the locker room for their match.
 
The only two-time National Player of the Year in school history used her experience as a former national champion setter, and Olympian to set the stage. And on Sunday prior to Manitoba's bronze medal match against Acadia, she referenced her senior season with the Herd.
 
The goal, like it was in 2024, was to win gold.
 
"It was supposed to be my best year ever, and we didn't win. It was our goal, and always has been for decades," said the Bisons alum.
 
"We fought like dogs to win [bronze], and we won it, but we didn't care in the moment. I had too much disdain in my fifth year to appreciate it enough. I know we don't want bronze. I get it. But that is where we are today. I want you to be proud of it, I want you to go after it."
 
"Today, that's what you have to want to win, because that's all you can win today," she added. "That's the prize today, to do that together. That's ours. It's ours to win. It's in us, and it's for us."
 
And so, as the Herd prepared for their final match of the season, with a shot at their first medal at nationals in ten years, they were grounded in their assistant coach's message.
 
Yes, they wanted to play for gold, that was their goal from the beginning of the season until its end. But in a time of frustration, a pleasant reminder to appreciate and live in the moment, sharing one last match with teammates and friends was taken to heart.
 
The Bisons swept the AUS champion Axewomen in three sets, never trailing by more than three points.
 
In her final game as a Bison, captain Light Uchechukwu led all players with 11 kills, along with six digs, while setter Katreena Bentley tied her career high with four kills, while dishing 29 assists and putting down five digs.
 
Bentley was also named a tournament all-star after amassing 122 assists and 28 digs in three games at nationals.
 
"I think for myself and all of us felt this individually, that it would be a disservice to ourselves and to our group to not show up and play today," Bentley said.
 
"I think we found whatever we had left in us, and we said let's leave it all out there so we have a last match to be proud of. I'm just that. I'm super proud of what we did today."
 
Sunday's match was important for a variety of reasons, but it carried extra meaning for Uchechukwu.
 
The obvious reason was because it was her last match donning the brown and gold. But it wasn't just about the on-court performance, and representing the Herd.
 
For 13 years, this program has given the Lagos, Nigeria native a place of belonging, dating back to her days as a Junior Bison.
 
Bentley and libero Julia Arnold have become two of her best friends, and head coach Ken Bentley, the founder of the Junior Bisons program, has been like a father figure to her. Those relationships extend far beyond any point in a match, it's so much deeper than volleyball.
 
Uchechukwu's hard-working mother Happiness went to university back home, but her education didn't transfer over, so she had to start fresh when the family moved to Canada (when Light was six). Her dad Patrick learned how to speak English through signing his documents as an immigrant. Their realities were not easy. 
 
Both work in home care, have multiple jobs and work seven days a week, all to provide for their family.
 
When Patrick and Happiness moved to Winnipeg, they were looking for ways to integrate their kids into the community, and to keep them occupied while they were working. Light found volleyball, the Bentleys, and more through the sport and it changed her life.
 
Through it all, head coach Bentley and then-assistant coach Mike Maidment have supported the Uchechukwus. 
 
"Ken and Mike at that time were really generous and gave me a scholarship through club, which was amazing, because I don't think I would be here or my parents couldn't have done it without their help," says Light. 
 
"Ken and Mike helped pay for club for 13U all the way through high school. I don't know if Ken even knows how much that meant to my parents."
 
That support, along with the tireless efforts of her parents in all other areas, inspired Uchechukwu to be her best self. And along the way, Bentley helped produce a player who became a captain, leader, All-Rookie and Team Canada selection, and now nationals medalist.
 
"I've been with the Bisons since I was 12. It's always been a home to me," said a visibly emotional Uchechukwu.
 
"It's going to be tough to leave, because I always knew what I was going to do the next year. This has been a second home."
 
"She's turned into the most tremendous leader, which is not easy and I know that, having been in leadership positions myself," added Katreena.
 
"She's handled any issues with grace, and I'm just so proud to see the volleyball player and the person she's grown into."
 
In the off-season, Uchechukwu took her game to the next level.
 
She, like the rest of the Bisons understood that in order to improve from last year's fourth place finish at nationals, more work was needed. They put in countless hours of hill repeats, consistent reps at the gym and in film and put their bodies on the line all year.
 
In five-set matches in the regular season, the Herd went 5-1, showcasing their overall team fitness.
 
Meanwhile, Bentley had the best single-season assists performance in Canada West history (983), Uchechukwu put down a career-high 334 kills (regular season and playoff totals), while sophomore Raya Surinx was named Player of the Year.
 
The Herd also set a regular season school record with 20 wins and won their first-ever Canada West Championship.
 
Collectively, every member of the roster stepped up, shaking the pain of injuries and ailments, and winning as a team. When Surinx went down to a lower body injury for six games (just prior to and during the playoffs), Uchechukwu took her game up a notch further with 81 kills.
 
Team Canada selection Ella Gray – who had the game-winning kill in the conference championship against UBC – added 55 kills during the post-season, while left and right side Andi Almonte added 49 kills and middles Eve Catojo and Brenna Bedosky combined for 67.
 
Even when they were seemingly down and out, the Bisons responded, using coach Bentley's commonly-used term of being an "every dayer" to collectively press on.  
 
"No matter how you feel, and you can feel all kinds of things. You can be stressed in school, you can be stressed personally. You can have nagging injuries. But when you come every day, can you put your best foot forward every single day? Can you be persistent? Can you be consistent? Can you show up and move the needle? Even if it's one percent," he said.
 
"Can you find a way to be a good teammate, to be supportive, and to find a way to move your game forward, just a little bit."
 
When Catojo battled a migraine just prior to the conference championship, she continued to press on, recording six kills, a .600 hitting percentage, two assisted blocks and a solo.
 
When Almonte suffered a lower body injury in the quarterfinals of nationals, she continued to press on, scoring the set winner in the fourth against Alberta and adding three critical aces in the bronze medal game against Acadia.
 
Any day, any time, any situation, the Bisons moved their game forward.
 
"Honestly, it's a responsibility to everyone else," said Catojo.
 
"I know the team needs me. I guess it was also a responsibility to myself. You're putting in the work every day, you're in the gym, you're in the weight room, you're going on days when it's tough and you don't feel like it. It would almost feel like a disservice to myself and to the team to not play. You came that far, you put in the work. We all want to reap those benefits. We put it in."
 
And so, as Manitoba closes the final chapter of the 2023-24 season, 38-year bench boss Ken Bentley can't help but be proud of all that his team accomplished.
 
"This year, in particular I'm just so proud of this group and our growth and our tenacity to stick together and not waiver, and put it in. There's nothing more we could have done this year to realize our goals. Light's played her best volleyball by far this year, and she earned it. Katreena's been putting it in for a long time too. She set a Canada West assists record this year, which is not easy and is a testament to her hard work. I'm just so proud of the season."