WINNIPEG – The Manitoba Bisons weathered the storm in sets one and two against a fiery Regina Cougars squad, coming up clutch in key moments in a 3-0 sweep (25-23, 25-22, 25-14). The win was Manitoba's third in a row, improving to 5-2, while the Cougars fell to 2-7.
 
Regina had late leads in the opening two sets, thanks to strong defence and blocking, but the Bisons willed their way back. Raya Surinx led the attack with 14 kills, while rookie Lucy Jurgensen had the best game of her Bison career with a personal best 12 digs along with three assisted blocks and an ace to help pace the hosts on defence. Regina was led by six total blocks from Piper Harkness.  
 
"I just think we had great poise there. Regina made a really good push. They were playing great. I was just happy with how we responded. We didn't panic. We stayed firm," said Bisons head coach Ken Bentley.
 
"We stayed really strong emotionally and had good presence. I thought that was really important for us."
 
Defence was the story of the first. The two sides combined for 34 digs and six total blocks. Manitoba led by three early, but the Cougars willed their way back, paced by their play at the net.
 
The visitors were the first to 20, recording their ninth assisted block courtesy of Cassadi Klapak and Harkness to take a 22-20 lead, forcing a Bisons timeout. Regina had ten assisted blocks overall in the first, with five different players getting a stat, led by Harkness' four assisted.
 
The following point went the way of the Herd, with the true freshman Jurgensen from Norway recording a key dig in a back and forth rally that ended in a Cougars error. The power hitter had seven digs after the first set to lead Manitoba.
 
Down to the wire, the Bisons re-took the lead, 24-23 in another gritty rally. Catojo and Surinx ended things with an assisted block to put the hosts on set point. Andi Almonte gave the Herd a 1-0 lead right after, serving up an ace.
 
The visitors withstood a barrage of heavy Bisons attacks, including a flurry from Surinx, the program leader in career kills (rally scoring era), marching out to a 20-16 lead late. Klapak and Anna Schultz combined for 14 digs entering the third, while the team's leading attacker Jordy McEachern paced the offence with seven kills and an ace.
 
But the hosts re-grouped, overcoming the four point deficit. Surinx was pivotal during that time. She helped anchor a three-point swing with a cross court blast for her game-leading ninth kill of the game, and Manitoba took the lead for good, 23-22 on a Surinx and Brenna Bedosky block. Surinx then ended the set with a line shot from the left for her tenth kill.
 
Manitoba commanded set three from start to finish, erupting to a 15-2 lead with no errors en route to a 25-14 win.
 
 Jurgensen had two assisted blocks during that span to cap a notable night. Bedosky also had three kills during the run while true freshman setter Julia Martens spread the offence out well to all of Manitoba's hitters, with five Bisons all hitting above .300. She had 32 assists overall, finishing the contest with a middle run to Catojo for her sixth kill.
 
"[Jurgensen] did a good job. She's a big presence for us at the net. She's got a huge block," added Bentley.
 
"That was important there. [Assistant coach] Julie [Trommel] coached her up not to jump too high. That was important, because she just going armpits and just getting carved. That was a good adjustment for Julie and her working together on that."
 
The two teams play again tomorrow at 4 pm.