MVB: Bisons complete weekend series sweep over the Griffins with four-set victory

Box Score WINNIPEG – Following a straight-set sweep on Friday night over the visiting MacEwan University Griffins, the University of Manitoba Bisons men’s volleyball team welcomed MacEwan back to the court inside the Investors Group Athletic Centre for the second and final game of the weekend. 
 
Manitoba needed an extra set on Saturday evening to earn the victory as they defeated the Griffins 23-25, 25-23, 25-18, 25-22. Second-year Eric Ogaranko lead the Bisons in kills, registering 17 in the match. Rookie Rowan Krahn added a career-high 13 kills of his own while veteran setter Jack Mandryk posted 49 assists in the win. 
 
Picking up two wins this weekend was crucial for the Bisons as they are in a tight race for one of the final playoffs spots in the Canada West conference. Saturday’s win over the Griffins saw their record improve to 6-8 on the season. 
 
“It was really important that we win these two matches,” commented Bisons head coach Lupo Ludwig. “We had a tough start to the game but played really well today in the third and fourth sets, which is what we saw in practice all week. Everybody was focused and we did a lot of really good things.”
 
It wasn’t a clean game for either side as the Herd tallied 15 errors and 21 service errors in the match. The Griffins piled up the errors as well, recording 16 and 14 more in the service game. 
 
Following a similar script to the game on Friday night, Manitoba and MacEwan battled point-for-point to a 16-16 draw in the opening set following a huge block from the Bisons’ Mandryk and Harrison Ens. The hosts consistently found themselves behind by a point or two but continued to answer before taking a slim 23-22. The Griffins answered with two-straight points of their own to go up 24-23 before a failed Matthew Campbell attack went into the net, giving the visitors the first set by a score of 25-23.
 
Manitoba struggled to find their rhythm to begin the second frame, trailing MacEwan on multiple occasions before kills from Ens and Ogaranko gave the Herd their first lead of the set at 13-11. Once again in a deadlock late in the set at 20-20, Mandryk and Ens team up for a block again to shut down the attack from MacEwan, putting the Bisons up by one. A few points later with the hosts on set point, the Griffins put their attack outside the line, giving the Bisons the set 25-23 and tying the game at 1-1. 
 
Manitoba’s Campbell kicked off the third set with back-to-back service aces to put his Bisons’ squad up 7-4 early on. Looking to have found their game in the third, the Herd used multiple runs to put themselves up 20-15. Thanks to seven kills from Ogaranko and three from Ens in the set, Manitoba took the third 25-18, going up 2-1 in the match overall. 
 
The hosts carried their momentum from the second and third sets into the fourth, doubling up the Griffins on points 14-7 to begin what the Bisons hoped would be the last set of the match. Up 24-22 and on match point, Ogaranko put down his third service ace of the game to clinch the win for Manitoba. 
 
For their next two game set, the Bisons will remain in Manitoba and play host to the 2022 U SPORT National Champions, the University of Alberta Pandas on January 13-14. 
 
“Next week is Alberta, who are the top team in the country,” added Ludwig. “We will be able to play free since nobody will expect a lot from us. If we can play free we can play like we did today in the third and fourth sets.”