WINNIPEG — The Manitoba Bisons put down 12 service aces, and came back in the 20s in all three sets, knocking off the No. 9 nationally ranked Brandon Bobcats to improve to 3-4 in front of a capacity crowd of over 1,000 at home.
The Herd got four aces from Karil Dadash Adeh, who leads the nation with 21, while setter Alex Witt — making his first career U SPORTS home start — blasted a career-high three, along with a personal best 31 assists.
Jordon Heppner added three aces, while Spencer Grahame and Jonah Dueck got in on the fun as well. Manitoba now has 68 aces on the year, 15 more than any other team in U SPORTS.
The Bobcats led 24-23 in the first, 25-24 in the second and 23-22 in the third, but were unable to close things out in all three sets as the Herd fought back to win 26-24, 27-25 and 25-23.
“Our passers stepped up in a really big way for me and made my job easy, and our attackers killed the ball. That’s it, that’s volleyball,” said Witt.
“It was great. Late in the stretch they’re a great team. It’s tough to come back from that sometimes, but it was an amazing battle, it showed some real grit from the guys.”
A Grahame solo block tied the first set at 24, and Dueck followed that up with a stuff block on a Bobcats pipe attack. A Brandon error then handed the Herd the opening set.
In the second, left side Kai Boyko put down the kill of the match, obliterating the ball while falling backwards from an odd angle for a cross-court kill. His fourth kill overall tied the set at 25, and Dueck recorded an ace right after. Brandon then handed the Herd the set with an error.
Manitoba’s late rally in the third included a thrilling bicycle kick dig from libero Josh Jehle. Grahame, the team captain, later ended the match with a blast from the left aided by a strong set from Witt.
The final set also included multiple aces from Dadash Adeh — who also had a game-high 15 kills — along with a well-placed ace from Witt.
“Karil and myself, we lived together last summer and we’ve been roommates for a while and just good friends,” said Witt.
“I think that connection comes naturally. It takes a lot of work to get there. The preparation going into this game and finding our legs and connection on that court in that amazing atmosphere in front of that many crazy fans, it was just so fun. It was great.”