At the conclusion of the regular season, both volleyball teams have earned playoff spots. For the women, it’s their ninth trip to the playoffs in the last 12 seasons under head coach and six-time national champ Ken Bentley, who also surpassed 1100 conference wins this season. Meanwhile, the men have advanced to the playoffs in both seasons that Arnd ‘Lupo’ Ludwig has been head coach (COVID cancelled the 2020-21 campaign).
The women (14-10) will travel to face No. 3 seed UBC (18-6) from February 24-26 for a best of three quarterfinal series. It’s the first matchup between the two teams since the 2019-20 season. Right and left side Light Uchechukwu and libero Julia Arnold were both in the lineup for the series, with Uchechukwu recording a combined 18 kills and just four errors, while Arnold added ten digs.
The T-Birds led Canada West with 23.06 points per set, while six different players recorded 100 points on the year, paced by Elise Petit’s 245 (ninth in the conference). They’ll face a Manitoba defence that’s been solid. Middles Eve Catojo and Brenna Bedosky tied for fourth in CanWest in total blocks with 76 while Arnold, an All-Canadian contender, led the conference with 361 digs.
Overall, six Bisons recorded at least 100 digs, including Uchechukwu, who’s done so in all three years she’s used eligibility. Offensively, setter Katreena Bentley led CanWest with 10.11 digs per set, while six members of the Herd had over 100 points, led by national Rookie of the Year frontrunner Raya Surinx’s 339.5 (fourth in the conference).
The men (9-15) will head to No. 1 seed Alberta (22-2) from February 23-25 for a best of three. It’s an enticing matchup, with the two teams putting on a thriller at IGAC earlier this year. During the January 13-14 series, the Herd took three sets off the Golden Bears, including the first two in the Friday contest.
The Saturday tilt was another offering of the Eric Ogaranko show. The crafty left side wowed fans all year with his incredible accuracy and even-keeled demeanour in the biggest of situations. He recorded 14 kills in the game, and was the team’s leader in that department on the season, with 227, while adding a team-high 30 service aces along with 79 digs. If he’s on his game, it opens up the rest of the Herd’s attack.
Additionally, left and right side Ben Carleton didn’t play in the January games due to injury. He adds another layer to Manitoba’s attack (11 kills in his last four), which is led by captain Jack Mandryk, who entered the top ten in career assists at the conference level two weeks ago. At the middle position, Jordon Heppner, Jonah Dueck and Harrison Ens combined to hit .312, while Dueck led CanWest with 1.18 blocks per set. Heppner, an All-Rookie contender, was fifth with 1.04.
For defending national champs Alberta, both Jordan Canham and Isaac Heslinga had double digit kills, with 24 each in the two-game sweep in January. The pair are two of four Golden Bears in the top ten in the conference in hitting percentage, led by middle Billy Johnstone (.439). Also, setter Cam Kern led CanWest with 921 assists, 70 more than anyone else.