WINNIPEG — The Manitoba Bisons women’s volleyball team started their last homestand of 2021 with the first of two against the Regina Cougars Friday night at the Investors Group Athletic Centre.
Regina spoiled the night for Manitoba, coming back from a 2-1 deficit to steal the match 3-2.
“I liked our effort, but we just made too many mistakes and weren’t consistent enough,” said Bisons head coach Ken Bentley
In the first, Manitoba fought off a late Cougars rally to take the set by a score of 25-23. Regina’s Caitlyn Spurr led all players with seven kills in the first frame and finished with 19 for the match.
The Cougars controlled a majority of the second set and won it 25-17 after Manitoba committed nine attack errors.
A pivotal third set proved to be the most exciting of the night. Regina found themselves up 20-13 before the Bisons went on an 11-4 scoring run, highlighted by five kills from Keziah Hoeppner, to tie the set 24-24. Manitoba completed the comeback and won the extended frame 33-31.
After a devastating third set loss, a motivated Cougars took another early lead, and this time held it.
“We have a really young team and it would’ve been easy for us to give up going into the fourth, but we had a short memory and came back strong,” said Cougars head coach Melanie Sanford.
In the fifth and final frame, it was the Cougars who took the set 15-10 to capture their second win of the season. With the loss, Manitoba drops to 2-5.
Regina’s Jessica Lerminiaux led all strikers with 27 kills and second-year Julia Horne led the Bisons with 13. This total was also good for her season high.
The teams will meet again Saturday night at 5 p.m. at the Investors Group Athletic Centre for the last game of the first half. After Saturday’s contest, the Bisons won’t play a home game until Jan. 28, when they host Saskatchewan.
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