Bisons beat Cougars in four to finish sweep

REGINA — The Manitoba Bisons finished off a sweep of the Regina Cougars on Saturday evening, winning in four sets.

The Bisons were led by Ella Gray, who had a team-high 15 kills and a match-high three service aces in the win. Manitoba setter Katreena Bentley had an excellent performance as well, dishing out a match-high 41 assists and recording 11 digs for the double-double performance. She added three kills and two service aces for a well-rounded stat line.

The Cougars played well in the first set, jumping out to a 15-9 lead. Manitoba managed to cut down Regina’s lead to three points when a kill by Eve Catojo made it 17-14 for the Cougars. That would be as close as they got as the Cougars stormed back to take the opening set 25-19. Outside hitter Caitlyn Spurr had five kills in the set for Regina.

The Bisons responded in the second set, dominating early to lead 16-6. The Cougars could not comeback from the deficit, and dropped the set 25-17. Gray recorded five kills in the set, including the final kill to seal it for the Bisons.

Things were looking better in the third set for the Cougars as they led 6-4 early. Manitoba scored five straight points to get to a 9-6 lead. The two teams went back and forth for the next few plays and the Bisons led 12-8. Manitoba went on a four-point run to take all of the momentum. The Cougars couldn’t recover and the Bisons took the third set 25-16.

The fourth set started close, with the two teams going back-and-forth to be tied at 9-9. The Bisons took command of the set after that, only allowing Regina to get four more points the rest of the way. Keziah Hoeppener and Catojo traded kills on the last four plays to help the Bisons take the fourth set and win the match.

Hoeppener finished with 14 kills for the Bisons while Catojo put up a match-high five blocks. Manitoba middle Brenna Bedosky had eight kills and had a .462 hitting percentage.

The Cougars got a great performance from fifth-year Jessica Lerminiaux, who had a match-high 20 kills on her senior night. Teammate and fellow fifth-year Katie House recorded five kills in the match. Libero Sierra Parris-Kruger finished with 14 digs.

The Cougars (4-10) will travel to Brandon next weekend to take on the Bobcats in their final weekend of the Canada West regular season. The Bisons (6-10) have finished their Canada West schedule and will start to prepare for playoffs.