MVB: Bisons win fourth in a row, come from behind to beat UBCO 3-2

WINNIPEG – The Manitoba Bisons came back from a set down, grinding out a five-set victory over the UBCO Heat on Friday night at IGAC (25-18, 23-25, 29-31, 25-18, 15-11). It’s the third game in a row that the ‘Zoons have won a game in five, and they are now 5-0 on the season in five-setters. 
 
The win was also their fourth in a row, as they improved to 7-4. They’re in fifth, with an identical record to the two teams above them. The Heat fell to 1-10. The two sides will round out their first half schedule tomorrow. 
 
“The team is a lot closer. Right now, our bench is engaged again. I think that helped a lot,” said head coach Arnd ‘Lupo’ Ludwig. 
 
“Now we have one more gain, and then we have a break and everything starts new after Christmas.”
 
It was a block party at the ‘GAC, with the two sides combining for 50 assisted in the match. Thys Weststrate led the way for UBCO with nine assisted and one solo, while Bisons middle Harrison Ens tied his career high with eight assisted blocks, along with a solo. 
 
Manitoba had 11 assisted blocks, compared to two in the first for the Heat, winning the opener by seven. The Bisons hit .462 as a team, while UBCO hit .250, with team blocking a major factor down the stretch. 
 
The Heat bounced back to win by two in the second. They had 11 assisted blocks, while keeping one of the nation’s best off the stat sheet in that regard. Weststrate paced his side with seven assisted blocks and a solo. 
 
Westsrate and company took over with the score tied at 17. He assisted on two straight blocks, and the team added a third to take a three-point lead. 
 
Bisons middle Jordon Heppner blasted a kill from the pipe, while Eric Ogaranko – who led all players with a career-high 19 kills – hit off hands on a double block to get it within one, but UBCO ended the set on a Renn Petryk kill. He led all Heat players, with 18 in the game. 
 
The visitors took a 2-1 lead in a marathon third set that went well beyond extras. 
 
The Heat led by three multiple times, including 10-7 on a Petryk ace, but the hosts pushed back. An Ogaranko right side line shot made it 18-17, and a UBCO error tied the game at 18. 
 
Heppner, Oganranko and Ben Carleton – who was targeted 44 times on receptions and was perfect – combined for a triple block to give UM a 19-18 lead, and from there it was back and forth.
 
The Bisons had multiple chances to end the set, including 28-27 after a Carleton pass to setter Sammy Ludwig, who drained a fade-away kill. Heppner also made it 29-28 on a middle kill, but errors cost Manitoba at the service line. 
 
A Heat block made it 30-29, and Manitoba’s attack on the following point went long to give the visitors the set win. 
 
With their backs against the wall, the Bisons dug deep, scoring five points in a row late in the fourth to take the seven-point set win. 
 
A Heppner solo block, followed by a Heppner kill, Ogaranko ace and Spencer Grahame kill were part of the Manitoba run. 
 
“We noticed that their outsides were hitting some sharp shots, so we moved the block a bit,” Heppner said. 
 
“For me, getting my hands over the net and not high got me a couple more blocks. And then [middle] Jonah [Deuck] came in in the fifth set and got us a huge block that was big. I think our blocking overall just got a lot better.”
 
As Heppner mentioned, Dueck – one of four Bisons to represent Canada this summer – came in late in the fourth, and made a big difference in the fifth. 
 
He combined for an assisted block to tie the game at five, while a Grahame solo block following two sprawling digs from libero Josh Jehle made it 8-6 Bisons, completing a three-point run.
 
Petryk got a kill to keep the game within two late, while Weststrate and Jack Taylor assisted on a block to make it 12-10, but Manitoba closed it out with a Heppner kill and UBCO error to take the fifth by four. 
 
Both teams will play again tomorrow at 6:45 pm.