MVB: Dinos outlast Bisons 3-1

Box Score The Manitoba Bisons valiant effort wasn’t enough on Thursday night as they fell 3-1 (17-25, 25-18, 25-21, 25-15) to the visiting Calgary Dinos at Investors Group Athletic Centre. 
 
Calgary’s top trio of Erik Godwin, Louis Kunstmann and Jackson Meier all finished with at least ten kills each. 
 
The Herd were led by fifth-year Ben Carleton who had a team high 11 kills, with Spencer Grahame coming in with eight on the night.  
 
The Bisons had the most attacks in the game through the fourth set but weren’t able to make the most of each opportunity. 
 
The first set was a a close battle. Grahame had a few monster kills to keep the Bisons close, but the Dinos countered with a few strategically placed hits.
 
It was a game of cat and mouse. As the Bisons pulled closer the Dinos found a way to keep them at arm’s length. 
 
After only a three point lead separated the two teams, the Dinos pulled away to take the first set 25-17. The big difference was in the kill percentage in the first 0.350 in favour of the Dinos. 
 
The tide turned for Manitoba in the second as Grahame gave the Bisons an early lead. A nerve racking rally went back and forth with Calgary throwing everything they had at the Bisons, but they didn’t fold. 
 
Sammy Ludwig finished off a huge rally halfway through the set to make the score 8-6. Kai Boyko’s ace serve tied the game at 9-9 a few plays later. A back and forth battle continued through the third thanks to tremendous kills from Boyko who extended the lead to 17-14. 

Carleton’s back to back kill and ace allowed Manitoba breathing room to hold off a Calgary comeback. Carleton finished off the set with a thunderous kill lifting the Bisons to a 25-18 set win. 
 
Things started strong again for the home team in the third. Jonah Dueck and Grahame had a monster block to level the score early on. However, Manitoba found themselves in a five point hole before they rallied back to within 2 points. 
 
Calgary went on a run to expand their lead to 6 points at 22-16. Manitoba found a second wind led by Jordon Heppner to cut the lead down to 22-20, but the Dinos offense was too much in the closing moments, taking the set 25-21. 
 
Manitoba found a spark to start the fourth, jumping out to a 3-0 lead before Calgary geared up and took control 9-6. 
 
The Dinos held a 3 point advantage before expanding it to an insurmountable margin and taking the final set and the match 25-15.

The two teams rematch tomorrow night at 7pm.