WINNIPEG – Less than 24 hours after the University of Manitoba Bisons women’s volleyball team swept the Brandon University Bobcats in straight-sets on Friday night, the Bisons repeated again on Saturday. The Bisons levelled their Canada West conference record to 4-4 with Saturday’s 3-0 (25-16, 25-20, 25-15) win.
Bison rookie Raya Surinx paced Manitoba with 11 kills on a team leading 29 attempts in the victory.
Manitoba didn’t seem to have missed a beat to begin the match, carrying the lead for the majority of the opening set. Second-year Andi Almonte led the charge for the Bisons offence in the first, tallying four kills on 11 attempts, including the set-clinching kill, giving Manitoba the 1-0 advantage, 25-16. Surinx chipped in with four kills of her own and a service ace to put the Bisons on set point.
The hosts kept their foot on the gas in the second set. Brenna Bedosky put down a cross-court strike vaulting Manitoba into double digits and a five-point advantage over Brandon at 10-5. The Bobcats answered with a 5-1 run to pull back to within one and continued fighting to stay within one through the middle portion of the set, but never managed to draw even. With Bisons on set point up 24-20 and Brandon to serve, second-year Bobcat Keely Anderson put her serve into the net, giving the set to Manitoba by a final score of 25-20. Surinx continued to lead the Bison attack, adding three more kills to her total in the second on nine more attempts.
Hunting for another straight-set victory and six in a row on the weekend against the Bobcats, the Herd continued to fire on all cylinders as they looked to even their conference record at 4-4. Manitoba jumped out to another significant advantage in the third, leading 11-3 through the opening stages of the set. The Bisons maintained their big lead for the remainder of the third before a block from Chloe Ellerbrock set up match point for Manitoba. Two points later, Surinx put the game away with her 11th kill for a final third set score of 25-15.
The Bobcats return home to take on the MacEwan Griffins next weekend with a pair of matches coming on Friday and Saturday.
Manitoba will be back at Investors Group Athletic Centre next weekend and play host for a pair of games against the Regina Cougars on November 25-26.
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