SASKATOON — The UBCO Heat women’s volleyball team battled back to take down the Manitoba Bisons, recording a 3-2 win (24-26, 26-24, 18-25, 25-12, 15-6) at the Physical Activity Complex.
It was the Bisons who grabbed the first and third sets to put the Heat in an early deficit, but from then on it was all Heat. UBCO stormed back to win the fourth and fifth frames in convincing fashion, as they improved their postseason record to 2-1.
“It was a great match,” said Bisons head coach Bentley. “UBCO is a great team and I thought we played them tough and they played us tough too. I have no complaints about today.”
“It’s cliche, but hats off to Manitoba. They played so well. They couldn’t do anything wrong in the first three and a half sets. They passed nails, they played unbelievable defence. The term I use for them all the time is that they’re surgical,” said Manuel.
It was the second five-set match of the weekend for the Heat, who recorded their second-straight victory after their four-set win over the Saskatchewan Huskies on Friday night.
“Hats off to our team, we’ve got a lot of battlers out there,” said Heat head coach Steve Manuel.
As mentioned, Manitoba won the opening set after fending off a UBCO set point, as a Light Uchechukwu kill — her fifth of the frame — kickstarting a 3-0 run to win the first 26-24.
The Bisons once again fended off set point, notching back-to-back points off of a Uchechukwu kill and Eve Catojo block to tie it up at 24, but Bussard responded with two kills of her own — allowing the Heat to tie it up at one set apiece.
After playing comeback in the opening two sets, Manitoba came out firing in the third. They led nearly wire-to-wire en route to the 25-18 set win.
“They came out, they had a game plan on how to throw us off and they just executed it right to a tee,” said Manuel.
But it was the Heat who responded in the fourth, with a dominating frame, and the fifth was much of the same, as Sydney Grills and Jade Bussard led the way in the late going. The pair of outside hitters each recorded 24 kills and combined for four service aces in the contest.
Manitoba entered the matchup without a realistic chance to qualify for Round 2, but Bentley was still extremely proud of how his team performed in the contest.
“UBCO had a lot to play for. The fact that we could play them that tough — just because — was really important. I just told them I appreciated the battle. They played their ass off. This group — we’ll ever day,” said Bentley.
“The biggest thing is I appreciate the battle from the group. It’s enjoyable and it’s fun when you’re fully invested and trying to play the best volleyball.”
While the loss meant an end to the Bisons season, the Heat put themselves in a great spot to move on to Round 2 of the Canada West postseason following Saturday’s win.
“Winning the match puts us in the driver seat. Some teams are going to do some really great things to knock us out,” said Manuel.
As for the macro, Manuel is pleased with how his team performed in the opening round of the playoffs.
“I’m biased because I’m here, but this is by far the toughest pool in the Canada West playoffs — hands down. This is the pool of death, said Manuel.
“Super happy with the weekend as a whole.”
The next round of the Canada West postseason begins on Friday. All the action can be seen on CanadaWest.TV presented by Co-op.
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