With an 8-4 record, the men’s volleyball program is off to its best first half start since 2016-17, their last trip to nationals. The squad has won five games in a row, thanks in large part to their energy.
“We’re such a talented group of guys. I think ultimately the things that are going to win us or lose us games is how we feel mentality-wise. We need to make sure we’re focusing on that every single day,” said veteran fifth-year outside hitter Ben Carleton, one of three Bisons with over 100 kills this season (119).
“Our best games are when we’re all yelling at each other when someone did something. There’s been a lot of emphasis from the guys to have fun.”
‘We go nuts’
Two specific games help define what Carleton’s talking about.
The first came in a back-to-back against Calgary at home in week three.
The Dinos won on Friday night – at the time improving their record to 5-0 against Manitoba dating back to January of 2020. But the ‘Zoons responded on Saturday.
Led by Carleton’s 19 kills – the second-most in a game in his Bisons career – along with 16 combined service aces, Manitoba battled back from 1-0 and 2-1 down to win in five. Along the way, they snapped a three-game losing skid.
The fifth set served as a turning point for Manitoba.
Leading 24-12, Calgary stormed back, scoring nine points in a row. Four of those points were off Manitoba attack errors, and the fifth came on a service error. To summarize, the Dinos weren’t out-playing the Bisons. Instead, Manitoba was getting in their own head.
It was an issue that’d plagued them before. But not this time. On Saturday against a team they hadn’t beaten since January 3, 2020, the Bisons fought their demons, and they won.
Carleton ended the set with a kill, but Calgary felt like they’d cracked their opposition, and were feeling good entering the fifth.
It was then, that veteran libero Josh Jehle – one of four ‘Zoons who played for Canada’s U21 squad this summer – said the right thing at the right time to energize his teammates and friends.
“Regardless if they win the first five points, the moment we win the first point in this set, we go nuts.”
Twenty-one words was all it took to remind Manitoba who they are. Jordon Heppner got the first point of the game with a kill, and Manitoba didn’t trail the rest of the way, led by three kills from Carleton and two aces from Heppner.
The result proved that when their energy and confidence are up, the ‘Zoons are a tough team to stop.
“It got all the way up to 24-21 and we were like oh crap, this is a little scary now. We need to finish. It was amazing that Josh stepped forward and was like alright, let’s do this,” said Carleton.
“I remember [captain] Spencer [Grahame] telling me and Josh, ‘that was so good of him to say. It helped us so much.’ We proved to ourselves that regardless of what we think of the other team, if we play confident and just enjoy it, it just plays such a big role in how we play. It eventually helped us win the game, regardless of the numbers on the stat sheet.”
‘Trust one another’
The following weekend, Manitoba faced another road block at home, this time against Mount Royal.
The Herd have been one of the best blocking teams in the country for a number of years now. It’s not often that they’re beaten in that area. In a 3-0 Friday loss to MRU, they were.
Head coach Arnd ‘Lupo’ Ludwig admitted that his side “did not put the pressure on [MRU] as much as we wanted to.” More than that, he felt the team “let [MRU] play well.”
Friday’s game, while detrimental to their progress, served as a wake-up call. Before Saturday’s match, Ludwig had a meeting with the team, and it resonated.
“[In Friday’s game], Lupo wasn’t happy with the way we were playing. The main thing was just our energy,” said left side Eric Oganrako. “We weren’t celebrating hard, it wasn’t natural. We just had to find a way to find the fun again in playing.”
“We have to be team first, and not the individual,” Ludwig added.
Prior to the start of Saturday’s rematch, in the team huddle, Grahame (the team leader in kills, with 122) re-iterated his coach’s message.
“We’ve got to be the best team out there. We’ve got to be the best teammates today. We’ve got to push each other. That’s a good team over there, and they did not prove it last night. Today, we go. Trust one another. Be yourself out there. Don’t try to be someone different.”
The ‘Zoons’ passion and energy carried them through a challenging four-set contest which saw the first two sets go to extra points.
Manitoba won both (27-25, 26-24), and took the game 3-1.
Everyone contributed for the Herd. Grahame and Carleton had a combined 19 kills, while middle Harrison Ens and left side Eric Ogaranko came off the bench to start, combining for 14 kills and six assisted blocks. Setter Sammy Ludwig added 32 assists.
“Our strength is our depth. We need to use this depth. That’s what we did,” said Ludwig. “There was more energy. We actually believed in ourselves, and we didn’t stop playing.”
“Our whole team knew we needed to bring something,” added Ogaranko.
“I’m kind of a quieter guy. To be honest, I just made it a goal to scream my butt off. Everyone did that on the whole team. That really was what gave us the energy to pull it out.”
Manitoba hasn’t lost a game since the MRU series on November 17, and they’ve needed everybody to step up.
Ten different players have logged at least 19 sets of action, while the energy from the bench has been just as important.
“It’s a lot of fun. [Second-year left side] Rowan [Krahn] especially is just wild,” laughed Carleton.
“He’s yelling at the top of his lungs, regardless of how he feels, which is such an important thing. He definitely brings the energy. It’s so important in those games.