WINNIPEG – Two weeks ago, back-to-back Player of the Year Raya Surinx achieved an incredible milestone, passing all-time great Rachel Cockrell for the most career kills by a Bison in the rally scoring era. The fellow Player of the Year (2015) and national champion (2014) had the previous best of 1,390, which Surinx has more than surpassed in year four, at 1,445. Tonight at IGAC, Surinx put her name near the history books once more, setting a three-set career high in points, with 26.5, helping the Manitoba Bisons to a 3-0 sweep (25-12, 25-21, 27-25) of the Regina Cougars.
 
Surinx's three set points total was the second-most in a game for the program in the rally scoring era in school history, just two points shy of Cockrell's mark of 28.5 set in November of 2014 against Brandon. The victory improved Manitoba's record to 6-2, their fourth win in a row, while Regina fell to 2-8.
 
"There are a lot more commonalities than not. The biggest one is just they are conscientious, hard-working kids who put it in every day, and it shows in their play. For Rachel to have 28.5 points in three sets is a pretty high bar to chase. I remember that match. She was literally flawless. It was ridiculous how good she was that match. But that was the standard. Raya has set a pretty high standard too," said Bisons head coach Ken Bentley of the similarities between the two generational talents.
 
"Rachel was a kid with unbelievable athletic ability. But she didn't waste a second of it. And that's rare, to have somebody who just takes advantage of everything she's been given. It was always so impressive to me. And Raya's the same. She stays humble, she puts it in. Neither of them ever talked about Player of the Year or individual goals. They always felt like they could get better."
 
On Saturday, Surinx – who spent her summer playing in the Volleyball Nations League with Canada's senior national team – played with "confidence" and assuredness," doing her part in all aspects of the game.
 
She had three aces in set one, and six in the game overall, while also leading the Herd in kills, with 19, and digs, with ten, along with three assisted blocks. Surinx's regular season kills total now stands at 1,111. She and Cockrell are the only two players in the rally scoring era for Manitoba to eclipse 1,100 regular season kills, and she is just 63 shy of tying Cockrell for the Bisons' record in that category.
 
"I thought her serving was way better today. Yesterday she hit the ball so hard she didn't get any spin on it. She hit through the spin. I said you can't hit it that hard that you can't create spin. That's a key to the spike serve. She just pulled back five percent and had a nice pure contact today and a good rhythm in her serve," added Bentley.
 
"Her passing has come along nicely. That was really good for her today too. She hit some great back rows. She's done a really good job of finding the zones in the back row. It's a hard ball to set."
And while Surinx often commands the headlines, it was a balanced showing yet again for Manitoba.
 
Notably, the ever-reliable Andi Almonte was at her best on the weekend, capping off an incredible two-game set with six kills, seven digs and two assisted blocks. She was also a powerful presence at the service line, getting the game going with a strong run from the back line that her teammates match all night.
 
Overall, the Herd had ten aces, with true freshman setter Julia Martens (28 assists) adding two, while fellow first-year Lucy Jurgensen added one, as did emotional leader Eve Catojo.
 
"Andi was kind of like the foundational player of what we needed this weekend. She was good everywhere. She was a great server in clutch situations. Her passing, her ball control, it was probably her best hitting weekend of the season," said Bentley.
 
"Julia [Martens] has been with us for a while now, so [Almonte] is coming together a little bit more with Julia now. I thought Andi hit the ball great, and the rest of her play was so good, game planning and talking to everyone about what we were doing. She was totally solid, she just totally big dogged the weekend. It was her best weekend of the season."
 
The Cougars were paced by leading attacker Jordy McEachern, whose 121 kills rank third in Canada West, just nine back of Surinx for first. She finished with 15 kills on Saturday, with her and Surinx going back and forth often on the stat sheet.
 
Manitoba led from the jump in set one, aided by spectacular pressure from the service line. Almonte opened the game with a variety of tricky deliveries, while Surinx blasted three aces to propel the hosts into a commanding lead. Manitoba had just one attack error in 13-point set win, hitting. 474, while the Cougars had seven errors.
 
McEachern had 12 kills entering the third, willing Regina back into set two with a variety of key blasts from the left side. The Bisons led 13-4 at one point thanks to a seven-point serving run from Surinx that included three aces, but back-to-back McEachern kills eventually pulled the game to within two, at 19-17.
 
Sustained service pressure from the Cougars kept the game within one, but Surinx stepped up again late, putting down her 15^th kill of the game to end the second, 25-21.
 
The Cougars kept the pressure on at the service line in set three, battling back from four down to tie the game at 25. Samantha Krausher contributed an ace, as did McEachern, giving the visitors set point at 26-25. But that's when Surinx stepped up again.
 
She went hard off hands on a double block to tie the game, and she and middle Brenna Bedosky combined for an assisted block to give Manitoba match point. Bedosky ended the game with a kill one point later, reaching an incredible career milestone with her 700^th kill overall as a Bison.

Manitoba travels to play the 8-2, Canada West-leading Thompson Rivers Wolfpack this weekend in a key weekend set in Kamloops.