WINNIPEG – The No. 6 seed Saint Mary's Huskies gave the No. 3 seed, and host Manitoba Bisons all they could handle, but like they've done all season, the Herd flexed their depth, coming out on top 3-0 (25-22, 25-18, 25-17) in the national quarterfinals at IGAC.
 
Manitoba advances to tomorrow's national semi against UBC at 6 pm CT, while Saint Mary's will play against Saskatchewan in the consolation semis at 2 pm CT.
 
Four Bisons finished with at least nine kills, led by Raya Surinx's 11. Light Uchechukwu and Andi Almonte added ten each, with Almonte earning Player of the Game honours after adding 11 digs, three solo blocks and an assisted block.
 
Saint Mary's also got a balanced showing, with Emilia Mikanovich and Breanna Golding combining for 22 kills.
 
The first set offered a taste of what was to come. Both team's hit extremely efficiently, at .368 for Manitoba and .282 for SMU. Each team's setter was also on the money, with Manitoba's Katreena Bentley (35 assists in the game) and the Huskies' Grace Blaskovits (26 assists in the game) combining for 28 assists entering the second.
 
Four different Huskies had a kill in their first four points, and SMU carried a lead until the 13th point, where Uchechukwu blasted a cross court smash to give the hosts a 7-6 lead.
 
It was all hands on deck from there. Uchechukwu, Brenna Bedosky (nine kills, game-high .643 hitting percentage) and Almonte put down kills to give Manitoba a 19-16 lead, but SMU stayed in the fight.
 
Alena Piatukhova's fifth kill narrowed Manitoba's lead to 23-21, but Almonte had the response, pushing the ball to the back line from a front row position, and the Herd won the set two points later on an error.
 
The story of set two was back line play. Surinx went on multiple serving runs, including two aces, forcing two SMU timeouts. The first gave Manitoba a 12-7 lead following a five point run, and the second pushed the Herd ahead 20-16 on another multiple point run.
 
Bedosky also smashed down four kills throughout the match off of aggressive Surinx serves that went right to her for over bumps.
 
The Huskies hit just .047 in set two, but had strong block defence. A Mikanovich and Anna Liniewski assisted block narrowed Manitoba's lead to 21-17, but Bedosky and Almonte followed up with an assisted block of their own, and Uchechukwu ended the set shortly after on a roll shot.
 
"I thought we hung tough in that first set when it was back and forth. They cracked a few and kept us pretty honest there. When Raya went on that run, and we scored four or five in a row and she was bombing the ball from the back line, we did a great job of saying hey, those are bonus points, we have to stay gritty for the really hard points," said Bisons head coach Ken Bentley.
 
"I thought we did a great job of that. Any time we get an over bump and Brenna can go up there and smash it, great. Those are bonus points. The other points we played really tough defensively and did the little things really well."
 
The Huskies took an 8-7 lead in set three following a Piatukhova kill, while Brenna Golding added an ace right after, but once again Surinx had the response from the line.
 
Her third ace of the night made it 14-10 Bisons, part of a 4-0 run that helped Manitoba close out the game. Almonte got way up for a cross court smash a few points later, looking fresh as ever, as the Bisons ended the game in three.
 
"Andi was the player of the game today for a reason. She did literally everything tonight," added Bentley.
 
"She had the most stuff blocks of the bunch, and she defended and was a great six row rotation player. She hit the ball at really important times in the 20s. She pulled the trigger. That was so important for us. She hit the balls at times we needed it, she went up and cracked it. She represents gritty volleyball for us."