On Friday night at Investors Group Athletic Centre, the nationally-ranked Bisons women’s volleyball team took care of business, again. The Herd knocked off UBCO in three, and have now won seven games in a row.
Entering the final game of the first half tomorrow at 5 pm, Manitoba sits in a top four position at 9-2, sweeping four of their last seven games in three. They are also 16-2 at home dating back to last season, and 5-0 in 2023, winning four of those contests in three sets.
The Herd boasts the nation’s passing leader in cerebral setter Katreena Bentley (10.39 assists per set), plus the kills, and kills per set leader in Raya Surinx, whose hold on top spot in the former is now up to 27. She has 174 kills on the year, with the next closest in the nation being at 147 (Mariah Bereziuk, MacEwan).
Defensively, libero Julia Arnold is second in Canada West, and fifth in the nation in digs (136), and she owns the five-set playoff record in that category, with 35.
Those are impressive numbers. But numbers don’t tell the full story.
Every kill, every assist was set up because someone else kept the ball in system. Someone else left the opposition reeling with a dominant performance in serve-receive.
Manitoba’s roster is so deep, so clutch that anyone can step up at any time, because they have put in the work to get there and are prepared. But almost always, that someone else is third-year left side Andi Almonte.
Almonte doesn’t always steal the headlines, she simply plays consistent volleyball. She’s steady.
She finished Friday’s game against UBCO with eight kills and just one error, hitting .500. Almonte added two aces, three assisted blocks and six digs, finishing the game with 11.5 points. It’s the third game in a row where she’s reached double digits in points.
She’s always prepared. Head coach Ken Bentley calls her a “foundational player,” and she plays a vital role in Manitoba’s success.
During the attack, she’s constantly communicating, never rattled. She sees the holes in other team’s defenses and calls them out to her teammates. On defence, she’s reliable in all six positions.
Against UBCO on Friday, Almonte was targeted 19 times, 14 of which came in the second set, which Manitoba dominated 25-11. During serve-receive, she stayed in the pocket in the back row, dishing perfect passes in system all night to Katreena Bentley, who finished with 35 assists.
Bentley was able to get every hitter involved, thanks to excellent back row passing. Every hitter had at least four kills and Manitoba hit .422.
“Her teammates appreciate what she does. It’s not lost on the team. UBCO came out hitting the ball hard on serve-receives. They were pounding it. We had to kind of hang in there and really pass some tough balls,” said Ken.
“They came out popping and it was hard serving. I felt we stayed calm and stayed in the pass and fought the good fight until it got a bit better on our side. Andi was a big part of that. She’s tough to fluster. She’s steady, never too high, never too low.”
In the third, Almonte took the game over at the service line. She tied the game at seven with an ace, and kept UBCO out of system, allowing her side to win five points in a row.
The Bisons broke a close set wide open and didn’t trail the rest of the way for the 3-0 win.
“She does everything,” said Ken of Almonte. “Her serving [against UBCO] was unbelievable. She sees the play before it happens most of the time, and she’s just a gamer.”
‘That kid’s the GOAT’
Almonte’s a humble person who loves to “do the work,” as her coach would say. She’s averaging a career-high 2.16 points per set, on the back of her constant dedication.
“I take pride in all the nitty-gritty things that I do,” she said. “I just play for the team. I’m there to play my role. I love it.”
This year, Almonte’s role has been to hit more. Against UBCO she had 14 attacks and didn’t miss often.
She’s got 28 kills in her last three games, complementing a Manitoba attack that also features two of the most efficient middles in the country in Brenna Bedosky and Eve Catojo (13 kills, just one error against UBCO), captain Light Uchechukwu, Team Canada NextGen member Ella Gray and many others.
“I think this year [Almonte’s] really grown into being a much more firm attacker. She had all the shots, and still does. But I said to her hey, you’ve got to hit. It scored in club and it scored in high school. If you don’t hit it, you don’t score,” said Bentley.
“She had to get stronger, she had to jump higher. Now she’s obviously doing all those things better. I had a pretty strong insistence on her to try and find a way to hit the ball more. That is job one for you. I know you can hit it. Can you hit it with a full send? That’s what you have to do. She’s really, really improved.”
Almonte’s performance in all areas isn’t lost on her teammates.
“In our team room that kid has major respect,” said Bentley. “Everyone just looks at Andi and goes yeah, that kid’s the GOAT.”
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