Just three points separate the Mount Royal Cougars and Manitoba Bisons in the Canada West standings entering this weekend, making for what should be an absolute thriller at IGAC on Friday and Saturday. Games are at 6 and 4 pm, respectively. Click here for tickets. 

Both teams are currently in a playoff position, with sixth-place MRU -- entering play with 16 points -- just one spot ahead of Manitoba. This is the first meeting between the two sides since November of 2023, when the conference rivals split a pair of games. 

Multiple Bisons enter the weekend approaching notable career milestones. At the service line, veteran middle Jordon Heppner needs just one ace to record 100 in his regular season career. In doing so, he'd become just the third Bison in the rally scoring era to accomplish the feat. He's just three aces shy of tying Josh Klassen for second in program history, and 18 shy of Luke Herr for first. 

Heppner and fellow veteran Jonah Dueck are also sky-rocketing up the program record books in career regular season blocks. Dueck enters play with 279, just four shy of tying Dane Pischke for fifth-most in the rally scoring era in school history. Heppner isn't far behind, at 270, which ranks seventh. 

Service pressure and a suffocating presence at the net have been two constants during Arnd 'Lupo' Ludwig's time as head coach for the Herd, with Manitoba consistently ranking at or near the top of the nation in aces and blocks, including last season where they where first in the country in the former with 184, and second in Canada West in the latter, with 169. That identity has stayed true in 2025-26. Manitoba's 103 total blocks are tied for second in the conference, while their 54 aces rank seventh. 

Individually, Dueck and Heppner are right beside each other on the block, with 44 and 43 total, with rank fourth and fifth in Canada West. They're both averaging over a block per set this year. 

The Cougars will rely on the veteran presence of setter Grant Hill -- the lone Cougar who saw meaningful action the last time the two sides faced off -- to help set the tone on their side. The U21 Canadian Men's National Team alum has 247 assists this year, along with 22 total blocks. On the attack, Kale Orr is the lone Cougar with over 100 kills, sitting at 122, with 3.21 kills per set. His 12 aces also lead MRU. 

It'll be a Team Canada reunion for Hill and Bisons hitter Owen Weekes, who leads Manitoba with 104 kills. The pair helped their country win silver at the 2025 Pan Am Cup, held in Calgary in August.