For two straight weeks, the Bisons women’s volleyball team has faced off against the No. 1 ranked team in the nation. And for two straight weeks, the Herd have handed their opposition an L.
Two weeks ago, Manitoba swept Trinity Western for the first time in 14 years, and last weekend on the road, the Herd earned a weekend split with defending national champion UBC, improving the No. 3 ranked team in the nation’s record to 15-3.
Along the way, the Spartans lost their first two games of the year, while dropping three spots in the national rankings, while the T-Birds’ Saturday loss to Manitoba was just their second defeat of the season.
Each of Manitoba’s Saturday wins went to five sets, and in both instances, the Bisons had to fight back from 2-1 down.
Manitoba owned sets four and five in the game two rematch with TWU. They didn’t trail at any point, with the nation’s kills leader Raya Surinx and the nation’s assists leader Katreena Bentley combining for four aces in the final two sets.
Saturday’s rematch against UBC was a different story.
The two teams traded the lead five times in the fourth set, until Manitoba broke away with five of the last seven points in a 25-22 win. Bentley set up captain Light Uchechukwu for what ended up being the deciding kill.
In the fifth, UBC led 4-0 and 7-2, but were out-scored 13-3 the rest of the way. An assist from Bentley, her 47th of the match, to Surinx ended things. Along the way, Bentley amassed at least 47 assists for the fifth time on the season.
And while the two games told different stories, the common theme was Manitoba’s fitness. Their level of play didn’t drop from the first to the fifth set, a theme for the group all season long.
In Surinx’s case, specifically against TWU, the velocity of her demanding jump-spin serve remained steady as the game progressed. Meanwhile, Uchechukwu put up a season-high 17 kills against the T-Birds in the rematch, and was fundamental on defence, while Bentley paced the attack with precision, power and poise.
The same can be said for everyone on the roster. Each player was prepared for the moment, because they put the time in over, and over and over again.
That goes back to strength and conditioning. It goes back to the summer grind doing hill repeats with Cole Scheller, putting together the building blocks that have allowed the women’s volleyball team to be in the position they’re in – one win behind UBC for first in CanWest with a playoff spot officially clinched.
And while everyone’s doing their part, it’s Bentley’s fingerprints that are literally and figuratively on every point.
She’s helped set the standard and very much embodies what Bisons volleyball is all about.
“That girl puts in the hours,” beamed Uchechukwu. “Whether it’s in the gym, in individuals with [head coach] Ken [Bentley] and extra film meetings. She has an insane work ethic.”
For Bentley, the time invested is just a reality of the position she plays, and knowing what’s needed in order to get to the next level.
As a younger university player, the position demanded more strength to push the ball outside.
It’s an area the 5’5″ Bentley’s worked at tirelessly, along with many other aspects of overall fitness and volleyball IQ that the average person doesn’t see.
“She’s jacked. I tell her that every day,” laughed Uchechukwu.
“You can tell she really put the work in this summer and also last year in the weight room.”
‘Her height isn’t a factor’
The proof of Bentley’s hard work is in the numbers.
A year ago, Manitoba advanced to the final four at nationals. Bentley had a career-high 748 assists and led the nation in assists per set. This year, she leads the nation, with 687 assists and is second in assists per set, at 10.57.
“Setters are guaranteed to touch the ball on every rally, so that just means that we have to be better with the ball and get more touches extra, more than everyone else does,” she said.
“It’s just the reality of the position. I don’t really see it as going above and beyond, because it’s not. It’s just what the position demands.”
Bentley’s not wrong. But it doesn’t take away from all the time she’s spent in the gym, doing pull-ups, running hill repeats, and in general, creating the best possible version of her herself so that she and her teammates can succeed.
“It’s unbelievable what she’s done in her training to make that happen,” said assistant coach Michelle Sawatzky-Koop, a three-time national champ for Manitoba [1990-92] as a setter, as well as two-time Player of the Year.
“Because she’s gotten so much stronger in her upper body and everything else — you see how much she has to run and how much harder she has to jump because she’s smaller, I lived that same life — because she can do that, now she’s able to set the ball outside easily. Now what she can do is take the ball from high and just set it to high, and take a tight ball and set it all the way to the antenna.”
The conversation around Bentley’s elite status doesn’t end with her passing. What she does at the net as a blocker is arguably more impressive, considering her size.
Last year at nationals, she won the press at the net against the Mount Royal’s Nyadholi Thokbuom, who stands at 6’3″. The Bisons went on to upset MRU in the quarter-finals.
This year, Bentley’s posted 22 assisted blocks, just three shy of Surinx, and five shy of Uchechukwu.
“I try not to think about [size],” she said.
“I try not to let it hold me back. I just try to do my best in every area as I can. My downfalls are my downfalls, but I just try my best to make everything as good as I can possibly make it in practice and in my individuals.”
There was no denying Bentley’s presence at the net in Manitoba’s 3-1 win over TWU two Fridays ago at home. The Spartans suffered their first loss, with Bentley tying for the team lead in assisted blocks, with three.
“If you think about it, she’s so small, but she gets up there. Everyone thinks it’s so easy to hit over Katreena Bentley. It is not. She will get touches,” noted Uchechukwu.
“Obviously other team’s game plans are to hit the ball line, but she will get blocks. People underestimate her which works to her advantage. She works so hard to make sure her height isn’t a factor.”
Manitoba’s regular season schedule doesn’t get any easier down the stretch. They play Winnipeg in the annual Duckworth Challenge next weekend, followed by a battle with 14-4 Alberta the next weekend, and Saskatchewan, currently in a playoff position, to round things out.
The team’s experiences this year, especially in five-set grinds will surely play a factor as they continue to showcase why they’re one of the best teams in the nation.
“I’m super proud of the fact that we can play gritty volleyball whether we were up and down,” said Bentley. “That effort on our part is a true constant no matter how the set or match in general is going for us.”