Bisons rebound for five-set win

BRANDON, Man. – After a marathon first set the Manitoba Bisons turned Saturday’s contest into an absolute slugfest.

The Bisons dropped the first in extras but ran away with the fifth, beating the host Bobcats 3-2 (32-34, 25-23, 22-25, 25-23, 15-9) Saturday night at the HLC.

The Bobcats’ attack efficiency declined in the fourth and fifth sets, hitting just .184 and .071 as a team in the final two sets.

Ben Carleton took over in the fourth and fifth, en route to a match-high 23 kills as the Bisons hit efficiently all night but a blistering .643 in the fifth set, ending the match with nine kills on just 14 attacks.

Jack Mandryk had a great night for the Bisons as well, finishing with a double-double (46 assists, 15 digs).

Five Bobcats finished in double-figure kills, as Jake Fleming ran a great offence in registering a career-high 60 assists.

Joao Cunha’s 17 kills was a team-high, while Max Brook and Bryston Keck both finished wit 14 kills. Rylan Metcalf had a double-double in his second career start, finishing with 12 kills and 13 digs.

The win gets Manitoba back to the .500 mark at 3-3 while the Bobcats sit at 4-2.

Brandon will conclude the first half of the conference schedule next weekend at home against Saskatchewan.

Manitoba will close out the first half at home against cross-town rivals the Winnipeg Wesmen.