Bobcats blow out Bisons in straight sets

WINNIPEG — The University of Manitoba Bisons women’s volleyball team welcomed the Brandon University Bobcats for the first of a two-game weekend set on Friday night.

Playing at Investors Group Athletic Centre, the Bobcats captured their sixth win of the season to improve their record to 6-5. The visitors swept Manitoba in three straight sets (25-21, 30-28, 25-13) with fifth-year Ravyn Wiebe leading her Brandon squad in kills with 16.

“We played a good team tonight,” said Bobcats head coach Lee Carter. “Earlier in the year we beat them 3-0 and they came back to give us a five-set war the next night. We expect that same effort from them tomorrow.”

Light Uchechukwu led the Bisons with a total of 13 kills in the match. The loss saw Manitoba’s record fall to 3-10 on the season.

“I am not unhappy with the effort or frustrated with the result,” said Bisons head coach Ken Bentley. “Tomorrow is a new day. We will keep fighting and working.”

Brandon were up 16-13 at the technical timeout of the first set, a three-point lead they consistently held throughout. In the latter half of the set, the Bobcats stretched their lead to 19-15 before Manitoba pulled back to within one at 22-21.

However, the visitors took the first set by a final score of 25-21 with Wiebe leading the Bobcats with six kills.

The second set saw the hosts take their first lead of the match, going up 7-6. Brandon did eventually take back the lead and hold it until Bisons tied it at 20-20 later in the set. The two teams battled the rest of the way, going point-for-point until eventually the Bobcats took the set 30-28. Uchechkwu put down nine of the total kills in the second frame.

The Bobcats dominated the third and final set of the match. After taking commanding 16-5 lead at the technical timeout, Brandon cruised to a third set victory of 25-13 to seal the match.

Both teams will be back at Investors Group Athletic Centre tomorrow at 5 p.m. for the final match of the weekend.