WINNIPEG – The Manitoba Bisons and UBC Thunderbirds were fit to last on Sunday at IGAC, putting on another instant classic in a marathon match that went two-and-a-half hours. In a gritty affair, the Herd came out on top 3-2 (25-19, 20-25, 26-24, 21-25, 20-18) in a contest that saw a combined 145 digs and 17 aces.
 
Laying their bodies on the line from the jump, every Bisons starter had at least three digs, led by 19 from libero Chelsea Siebenga, 14 from left side Raya Surinx and 13 from Ella Gray, while Surinx had 21 kills, and Gray had 12. The Thunderbirds got four aces from Aimee Skinner along with 19 digs, while Lucy Borowski had 23 kills.
 
"Our team defence was phenomenal. I just loved how we stayed steady and we just moved to the next play, no matter whether it was a good play or a bad play," said Bisons head coach Ken Bentley.
 
"I was really proud of how we managed that. It was a really huge part of us winning the game, was our capacity to crack onto the next play. We were just really steady today."
 
Bisons middle Eve Catojo, the team's "spiritual leader" played a major factor early in the first set, as setter Elia Falcone ran the middle effectively and the Herd were strong on the block.
 
Catojo had six of Manitoba's first eight points, including three kills and three assisted blocks as the hosts surged to an early 11-6 lead.
 
In the match, Catojo had ten assisted blocks, a five-set rally scoring era school record, and just one shy of the overall rally scoring era school record set by Tricia Mayba in 2010.

With eight kills and just one error on 21 attacks, Catojo also rose to first in program history in career hitting percentage in the rally scoring era, at .350. That total is also third all-time in Canada West.
 
"She was such a beast today, one hundred percent," said Bentley. Everyone just jumps in right behind Eve's competitive spirit. She's our spiritual warrior, one hundred percent tonight."
 
The T-Birds battled back with clean passing and a balanced attack that saw six different players record a kill, while setter Issy Robertshaw had 11 assists as the visitors cut Manitoba's lead to two at 18-16.
 
But strong service pressure, including an ace from Surinx, helped the Bisons secure the set.
 
They had no errors, while UBC had six at the line, with Surinx recorded back-to-back kills aided by strong service pressure to end the first. She led all players with six kills entering the second.
 
The visitors had four aces (from four different players) in set two, leveling the match with quality service pressure of their own.
 
The T-Birds led by four at the midway mark, but the Bisons battled back with a balanced attack, including some strong middle runs from Catojo, who had five kills while hitting .556 through two. Falcone found the veteran numerous times, while Ella Gray had six kills entering the third, including a smash from the right on a single block, as Falcone found her with a back set on a great read to cut UBC's lead to one, at 15-14.  
 
But Aimee Skinner helped will her way back into a favourable spot with three straight kills for her side (six through two), and an ace a few points later, while Kylee Glanville – entering the starting lineup after an injury in set one to Akash Grewal – had an ace of her own to earn set point, which UBC earned one rally later.
 
The Thunderbirds led by three down the stretch in the third, at 22-19, but gritty defence helped the hosts fight back to win in extras in a set that was tied 15 times.
 
Libero Chelsea Siebenga kept a variety of rallies going, including a momentum-shifting pass that led to an Andi Almonte kill from the left to make it 22-20. Siebenga had 14 digs after three, while Falcone spread the offence out well with 26 assists.
 
"I thought Elia's set selection was way better tonight, and Chelsea was really good tonight," said Bentley.
 
"They passed solid and defended. And Chelsea's a big personality. She just brings everybody along for the ride. She empowers people and plays fearlessly as a libero, which I knew that she would. She set some really great balls today that were out of system for us to score, that was critical I thought for us. Those were big matches for those two."
 
Gray and Surinx also had monumental digs which helped their side take the set. Gray had a diving dig to set up a Surinx kill to tie things at 23, and she delivered an in system pass three points later once again to Surinx (for her 11^th kill) to give the Bisons set point at 25-24.
 
Catojo and Falcone denied UBC at the net one point later to give the Bisons a 2-1 lead.
 
The two sides combined for six aces in set four as serve-receive continued to be key.
 
Glanville and Skinner had two each for UBC, helping their side to a 14-9 lead, but later on, an Aviendah Plett ace brought Manitoba to within one, at 17-15.
 
Skinner's second ace put UBC up 21-18, however Manitoba again rallied, with Siebenga staying the pocket with a variety of quality digs. The same could be said for Thunderbirds libero Bronwyn Ettinger, who had 18 digs entering the fifth, while Skinner had 14 and Robertshaw had ten to keep a number of rallies alive.
 
Borowski came up clutch in the latter stages, putting down back to back kills as UBC took the match to a fifth. She had 21 kills going into the final set.
 
The fifth went to extras, living up to the billing of the prior four and then some, with a variety of saves on defence leading to points on both sides,
 
The Thunderbirds had set point twice, as did Manitoba. Skinner blasted an in system kill two points after a massive dig that led to a UBC point to give her side a 16-15 lead and their first match point, but the Bisons pushed back.
 
Siebenga sat in the pocket in the back row during a long rally, and her dig eventually sailed over the head of UBC's attack and stayed in on the sideline for an impressive point. Later, Almonte and Surinx helped end the game. The former found the latter out of system to put Manitoba on match point at 19-18, and two huge digs from Almonte right after led to an error and a win for the Herd.
 
Surinx, a force all over the court, reached the elite 1,000 career regular season kill club during the game. She now has 1,017 as a Bison, becoming just the 21^st player (and only the second-ever Bison) in the rally scoring era in Canada West history to reach the feat.
 
"Obviously they were all over her tonight, but man she just persisted and kept hitting the ball," said Bentley.
 
"I just admire that in her. She just seems unbothered. She just goes and pulls the trigger on the next ball. I thought she hit the ball better tonight and just never got discouraged. And her serving was unbelievable. She didn't miss one ball into the net all weekend. She was bombing it, and she hit some pipes out of the back row too. And it's not just about her hitting. That kid is gritty in the back court. She defends. That's what I always think about Raya. She's doing the grunt work too."