Renowned author Robert McKee once said that "true character is revealed in the choices a human being makes under pressure. The greater the pressure, the deeper the revelation."
 
Well, in 2025-26 the Bisons men's volleyball team faced pressure in spades. What it revealed, was just how resilient, tough, connected and composed the team was. Further, it was a reminder that it's not how you start, it's how you finish.
 
After beginning the year at 4-6, the team didn't lose a single regular season conference game the rest of the way, going 13-2 overall while earning their way to nationals for the first time since 2017 (hosted in 2022).
 
Suffice to say, Manitoba is peaking at the right time.
 
An experienced group who didn't graduate anyone from last year's playoff roster, they're built to win now. They have eight players on their roster with Team Canada experience, seven who are graduating seniors and a handful that have earned all-star recognition at either the conference or national levels.
 
And while their season didn't start the way anyone expected, with numerous injuries and personal setbacks hampering their progress, the 'Zoons never lost sight of their end goal. They trusted the process, did the work when no one was watching, kept building, and believed in each other.
 
"We've been working a lot with Cheryl [Coulter] our sports psychologist. That's been a big focus for us, not looking ahead too far, seeing the finish line before you get there. We try to be specific and level ourselves back down after each point. I think that was honestly a big reason why we've been able to claw back from some tricky situations this season," said left side Eric Ogaranko, the longest-serving member of the roster.
 
"We've been down this road before."


 
 
'It's just another game for us'
On the road in hostile environments for two consecutive playoff weekends, the Herd were unflappable.
 
Manitoba knocked off No. 4 nationally ranked UBCO in the quarterfinals and No. 1 ranked, UBC in the semis, programs that had handed them four of their six losses in the regular season.
 
Against the Heat, Manitoba weathered the storm of a capacity crowd of 1,234 for three consecutive nights.
 
They offered up a reverse sweep in game one, and in game three, they silenced The Furnace with a 3-1 win that included a 26-24 victory in the second set where they fought off four consecutive set points at 24-20.
 
With Canada West All-Star Jonah Dueck at the line, Manitoba scored six in a row, aided by an ace from The Rosenort Boogeyman and exceptional defence.
 
The standout rally came with the score tied at 24 following Dueck's ace. Manitoba withstood a barrage of powerful attacks from UBCO's best hitter Seba Manuel, which included back row digs from Team Canada U21 selection Owen Weekes and Dueck, along with two diving saves from Ogaranko. The Heat eventually recorded an error, doing the same on the next rally to end the set.
 
"There was a lot of momentum on our side," Ogaranko recalled.
 
"I just remember that being a scramble to try and keep the ball up and earn the point. I also think we tired them out. They had a few chances to score, and we just kept getting the ball up."
 
The Herd's past experience in similar situations prepared them for what was to come.
 
Against Saskatchewan in early January, they came back from a set down, and 9-5 in the fifth with Ogaranko at the line, delivering a statement win (25-19, 15-25, 25-27, 25-21, 15-10).
 
Then, versus Winnipeg in front of a loud, sold-out crowd at the end of January, they fought off set point twice in the fourth on their way to a 3-1 win (25-18, 25-15, 30-32, 26-24).
 
"One thing that's really important in situations like that is how experienced you are, and how you can deal with pressure situations. When you look back, when we played Winnipeg, or Sask, we've been down in games before, we've come back before. There was a sense of calmness," said Weekes of the comeback against UBCO.
 
"We all believed we could come back from that deficit. Jonah put those serves in, and gave our defence a chance to play. We dug our feet into the ground and just battled."


 
The weekend after, Manitoba put a halt to UBC's 28-game home winning streak, sweeping the No. 1 ranked team in the country in three sets to guarantee their spot at nationals.
 
Despite a raucous crowd, the Bisons kept their cool and blocked out the noise. They never trailing by more than a point in the 3-0 win.
 
"I think the reason we played so well against UBC was because we'd been there before. We had the whole football team chirping us, and we had a full gym of fans. It just didn't phase us. We had to go to UBCO and play in front of a crowd and atmosphere just like that the week before," said Weekes, who led Manitoba with 219 kills during the regular season.
 
"We're a team that doesn't have a ton of Instagram followers, we don't have YouTube documentaries, we don't have all this stuff. We just focus on important things. We don't really care. We're just here to play volleyball. We like hanging out with our teammates. We're boys. We're playing for the right reasons. It's just another game for us. We were playing the No. 1 team in the country who had won 28 in a row at home, but it's just another volleyball game. I think we handled the situation well. We're experienced."
 
Sticking to their game plan, the Bisons forced UBC to scramble with precise serving, which then allowed their potent front row presence to do its thing. The Bisons led Canada West and were second in the nation with 212 total blocks in the regular season, and it was business as usual against the T-Birds.
 
Manitoba recorded six solos in the contest, including one each from Dueck and fellow all-star Jordon Heppner, who were second and third in CanWest, with 85 and 78 total blocks on the year.
 
"We really put a focus on playing to our strength, taking some risk off of some of our serves, and being more tactical in some situations, trusting our block defence to do its job," said Ogaranko.
 
"There's been a few games and a few moments where our block defence has shown that it can take over a match. Against UBC, that's kind of what happened. We scouted really well for their hitters. We had a full week to prepare for that, and we executed the game plan perfectly. Our block defence was a problem for them that game."


 
 
'We really just dug our feet in and played'
This week, Manitoba faces their final test, looking to win three games and secure the program's first national title since 2003. The road starts at 11 AM CT on Friday against RSEQ champion Laval.
 
The Rouge et Or finished 11-5 in the regular season, going on an impressive run of their own in the playoffs en route to a conference banner. Their hitting percentage of .296 was just above Manitoba's .283, both of which ranked in the top ten in the nation.
 
On the attack, RSEQ Rookie of the Year Felix-Antoine Perron will be one to watch. A teammate of Weekes' during this past summer's Pan Am Cup, he led Laval with 188 kills and also had 101 digs.
 
Regardless, Manitoba will be prepared, continuing to feed off the energy they've generated throughout 2026.
 
"We had a bad first half, and we really just dug our feet in and played. We've been building off that momentum. We know Manitoba has a really good legacy of volleyball. I know when I signed here, I wanted to get Manitoba back on the map," said Weekes.
 
"Seeing the guys that I was joining, I knew that we were capable of it. Slowly building on that each week in the second half, to where we are now has just been awesome to be a part of."