Fifth-year “Big” Ben Carleton’s 19 kills, and 16 combined service aces helped lift the Manitoba Bisons to a 3-2 (16-25, 25-9, 27-25, 25-21, 15-8) victory over the Calgary Dinos on Friday night at Investors Group Athletic Centre.
Carleton’s 19 kills were the second most in his career. Jordon Heppner added six of the ‘Zoons’ 16 aces, the third most in a five-set match.
“He was awesome today,” Bison Head Coach Arnd “Lupo” Ludwig said about Carleton’s performance.
The Dinos jumped out to a quick 7-2 lead in the first set thanks to some strong play at the attack line by Louis Kunstmann.
Calgary controlled the middle and forced errors to maintain a five point advantage. Manitoba aced a Calgary Dino in what seemed like a moment to spark their offence. But the Dinos recovered to keep the Herd out of reach with strong digs and great defence.
Despite some valiant efforts to chip away at the deficit, Calgary were able to do enough to keep Manitoba at bay.
The play that defined the first set was Erik Godwin, who made a pancake dig to set up Kunstmann for a kill that sealed the momentum. The Dinos took the first set 25-16.
Manitoba came back to life in the second set.
They found a burst of energy from Spencer Grahame and Carleton to take a 4-3 lead in the early going. They sent back a fierce Dinos attack with a thunderous block by Jonah Dueck and Heppner, with Heppner following up the block with a monster ace, forcing the Dinos to call for time.
Dueck and Grahame wreaked havoc in the middle during the second set, giving the Bisons their biggest lead of the night at eight points. Grahame hammered a serve that caught the Dinos off guard after kissing the tape and dropping over for an ace.
Manitoba expanded on their lead thanks to more phenomenal play from Carleton and Sammy Ludwig. Kai Boyko got in on the fun with a salacious kill of his own.
Josh Jehle held down the Bisons back line with some tremendous digs setting up big momentum swings.
The Bisons clinched the second set 25-9, holding Calgary to their first single digit set all season.
“We came out to play as we wanted in the second set as we were very hesitant yesterday,” said Bisons head coach Arnd “Lupo” Ludwig. “We served really well, our passing got better and we could run our offence which is our strength.”
The Bisons went punch for punch with the Dinos to open the third.
Manitoba answered the bell every time Calgary found themselves with the upper hand. The two teams rallied back and forth before the Herd took their first lead at 8-7. As Calgary looked to take momentum back, Carleton bounced their attack like a bad cheque, helping his team keep a two point margin.
The Dinos continued to push the Bisons, tying the game back up at 13 before Carleton lifted his offence to another advantage. Manitoba continued to hold on tight as the momentum swung like a pendulum.
Dueck and Boyko set up an iron curtain later to make the score 18-16, forcing Calgary to take a timeout. The Dinos fought back after the break to take a 20-19 lead. The two teams jostled with back and forth at one point margins before the Dinos took the set in extra points 27-25.
Manitoba didn’t back down, coming back to win the final two sets in impressive fashion.
Early on, a Ludwig block was followed by Heppner’s fourth ace of the night to double the Dinos total. Manitoba held at least a four point edge for most of the fourth set with Carleton continuing to be a force at the attack line.
Manitoba held a 12 point lead before Calgary stormed back to make it only a four point game. Carleton finished off the set with a killer spike to give the Bisons the 25-21 set win and force a fifth.
“Actions speak louder than words. It’s as simple as that,” said Carleton, the lone fifth-year on the roster.
“We’ve got so much talent on this team. We have crazy depth [. . . ] the majority of our guys, it’s just the confidence that no matter what happens, we have the ability to go back and fire again.”
The Bisons opened up the fifth set with a 5-3 lead. They expanded on their margin and went up 8-4 halfway through. Carleton’s kill to make the score 10-6 marked the third highest kill total in his career at 18. He broke that record a few plays later with his 19th kill of the game. Manitoba took the match after a 15-8 fifth set victory.
The win snaps a three-game drought for the Herd (3-3), gaining a weekend split with the 4-2 Dinos.
“We knew we had to come out today. We knew that we get into these slumps, and as an older player I couldn’t let that happen,” Carleton added.
“We’ve seen it in our whole team when everyone is down. We saw it a little bit throughout the game. My job today, whether I got those kills or not, was to not look down, body language up. That whole mindset.”
Manitoba is back at home next Friday the 17th against the Mount Royal Cougars at 7:45pm.
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