WINNIPEG, SK – The No. 3 ranked Manitoba Bisons and Saskatchewan Huskies combined for 106 digs in a two-hour marathon on Friday night at IGAC that had playoff vibes.
The Herd came out of the battle with a four-set win (25-16, 25-18, 23-25, 25-22) improving to 19-4. They are now 10-0 on the season at home, while Sask fell to 8-15.
With Trinity Western’s five-set loss to Calgary, and Fraser Valley’s loss to Alberta, Manitoba is now in second in the Canada West standings. They control their own destiny tomorrow in the rematch at 6:45, with a win securing them the number two seed.
Bisons setter Katreena Bentley dished out 52 assists, and needs just eight tomorrow to set a new single season Canada West record, at 943. It’s the second game in a row that she’s had at least 50 assists, and the fourth time this season she’s reached the 50-plus mark.
Bentley leads the nation in assists by an astonishing 193 entering the final game of the regular season.
Light Uchechukwu led the way on the attack, recording a season-high 22 kills with Player of the year front-runner Raya Surinx out of the lineup due to injury.
The Huskies were paced by 12 kills from Rosetta Cyr.
“Light had some huge swings for us. She was big tonight,” said Bisons head coach Ken Bentley.
“She hit it hard, hit it high, hit it heavy. When we really needed someone to hit the ball, she did a really good job of that.”
Manitoba hit .500 as a team in the first and only had two errors, with Bentley dishing out 11 assists to five different players, as the Bisons won by nine.
The x-factor was 5’11” middle Chloe Ellerbrock, who came off the bench with the score 18-15, helping her side score six points in a row from the service line, including three aces.
The Huskies got four kills on five attacks from Cyr, including an impressive roll shot into the pot from the back row. They only had three errors, but were unable to match the play of Ellerbrock, as well as Uchechukwu (three aces) from the line.
Manitoba’s team defence was also superb.
The Bisons recorded ten digs in the first, including multiple diving saves from Bentley and Andi Almonte – who had a team-high five kills on eight attacks – while the Huskies had just five digs.
The two teams combined for 35 digs in a defensive slug-fest in set two. The difference, was that Manitoba put away their opportunities on the attack more often. Bentley had 27 assists after two, with four different players tallying at least five kills.
Digs from libero Julia Arnold, Uchechukwu, middle Brenna Bedosky and left side Ella Gray, who led all players with seven entering the third, all led to kills as the Bisons led by four for most of the set. The hosts closed things out with Uchechukwu’s game-high 11th kill on a line shot facing a double block.
Through two, Uchechukwu had a .526 hitting percentage, while Keely Anderson and Cyr combined for 11 for the Huskies.
“We won almost every long rally, just because we can. It showed up again. There were a couple of balls that Light terminated after the ball went back and forth three or four times,” said Bentley.
“She managed to get a full send, took a good chew of it and it’s important to have that capacity and that ceiling. We got rewarded, because we can play as long as we need to.”
Anderson and Julia Howell Bourner also combined for three aces, but the Bisons were just as good at the back line, with Gray adding an ace along the way.
Another 41 digs were recorded in the fourth in yet another thriller.
This time, it was the Huskies who out-lasted their opposition, with Tielle Hagel recording ten assists in a versatile showing. Cyr and Olivia Mattern combined for eight kills, with the former keeping multiple rallies alive with one-handed digs. She had five overall in the set.
Manitoba battled, fighting off set point multiple times. Arnold led the Bisons with eight digs, but nine errors cost the hosts, including a shot from the attack line then went long to end the set.
Like a broken record, the two sides traded points at will in the fourth.
Kills from Almonte and Uchechukwu broke open a one-point game late, as the hosts scored four of the last six points. Uchechukwu recorded a dig and kill on a give and go to make it 24-21 Manitoba, and she finished the game with a cross court kill.
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