WINDSOR – Prior to their game against the No. 3 seed, RSEQ champion Laval Rouge et Or, Bisons head coach Arnd ‘Lupo’ Ludwig delivered a powerful, but direct statement to the team about their journey, and what helped get them to the dance. 

“We’re going to play against Laval. That’s a strong team. They’re well coached. They’re disciplined, especially in their back row defence. But think about what I said yesterday. Did they face the kind of serving that we face every weekend in Canada West, and every single day in practice? Did they face the kind of blocking that we have every day in practice, and every single weekend that we play against Canada West teams? That’s a good question. Our season, every single thing we’ve faced up to this point, has prepared us for this moment,” said Ludwig.

Manitoba did exactly what their coach predicted. 

Battled tested from Canada West play, the country’s best blocking team with 212 total in the regular season, delivered another statement at the net. They recorded 18 assisted blocks against Laval, compared to zero in a 3-0 victory in the national quarterfinals on Friday (25-20, 25-16, 25-17). 

Every single starter had at least one block, led by Canada West All-Star Jordon Heppner and Sammy Ludwig, who combined for 11 assisted blocks. Owen Weekes and fellow all-star Jonah Dueck came together to end the match on an assisted block as well, and Dueck added two solos.

Also, like their head coach said, Manitoba’s service pressure (130 aces in the regular season) took a toll on Laval. 

Weekes – the Herd’s Player of the Game – racked up six aces, and the Bisons forced Laval to scramble all game with their assertiveness at the line, which allowed their block defence to do its thing. 

The Bisons forced Laval’s top two attackers, 6’5” Felix-Antoine Perron and 6’4” Max Losier, to commit 11 errors, more than their ten combined kills. Neither player hit above zero percent overall in the match, with Perron finishing at -.059.

“We know what we’re capable of,” said Weekes after the game.

The key shift in momentum occurred early in the first. Laval took a two-point lead, and while it wasn’t an enormous gap, coach Ludwig felt the need to rally the troops, as three of Laval’s points had come off service errors. 

The timeout, and simple message about getting your serve in, worked. Manitoba went on an 11-4 run, aided by back-to-back assisted blocks from Ludwig and Heppner, which gave Manitoba an 11-10 lead. 

They didn’t trail for the rest of the set, and they didn’t miss a serve either. Weekes closed things out with two kills in three points from the left.

“I just told the guys to calm down. That’s all that we have to do,” said Ludwig on the message during his first timeout. 

“Settle down. Focus on our task and that’s it. We don’t have to be super impressive, just focus on what we know we can do and that’s it.”

“We’re a really experienced team, and it’s just about settling in,” added Weekes. 

“We called a timeout to start the game in the first set, and the message was just about staying patient, that’s been our moral. We started settling in. I felt comfortable, other guys started to feel comfortable.”

Sets two and three were a similar theme as the first. Manitoba pressured Laval from the line, and they couldn’t respond. 

Karil Dadash Adeh blasted an ace to give Manitoba a 7-6 lead in the second, and they didn’t trail from there, with Weekes adding an ace later on. 

It was Weekes who put the pressure on in the third as well, swinging momentum with back-to-back points at the line that gave Manitoba a 6-4 lead, and it was their game from then on. He added his fifth ace of the game to give the Bisons a 15-10 lead, and put down his sixth two points later. 

With the win, the Bisons advanced to the national semi-finals for the first time in 14 years, last doing so in 2012 against Western. Their next test is No. 7 seeded UBC, who knocked off the No. 2 seed, OUA champion Queen’s 3-1. 

That game is at 5 PM CT, and is a rematch of the Canada West semi-finals, which the Bisons won 3-0. It’s the fourth time the two sides are facing off this year. 

“It feels great [to advance],” added Weekes. “We just believe as a group. It’s cool, we’ve celebrated for our time. But now we’re going to refocus and try to win that semi-final.”