WINNIPEG — The No. 8 nationally ranked Manitoba Bisons made a serious statement on Saturday night at IGAC, coming back from 2-1 down to beat the No. 1 ranked Trinity Western Spartans in five (18-25, 25-10, 18-25, 25-17, 15-7).
The weekend sweep was the Herd’s first over TWU in 14 years, dating back to November 20 and 21, 2009.
It’s also the first time the Spartans have been swept in a two-game conference matchup since the 2018-19 season (January 25-26 versus UBC), as Manitoba firmly entrenched themselves as one of the favourites in the conference and national championship conversation.
Along the way, the Bisons improved their undefeated streak at home in 2023-24 to eight games.
“We talked about it in the room, and I think that [assistant coach] Michelle [Sawatzky-Koop] made a really good point about it yesterday, that we stayed in a really good pocket of not being too high or too low, and keeping a really tight bandwidth so that we could just play really good volleyball consistently,” said head coach Ken Bentley.
“There wasn’t a lot of spikes. I just felt like we kept it at a really tight bandwidth and we just stayed there. The fifth set was especially good, because we didn’t treat it any differently than any other set. We just played the set.”
Bisons setter Katreena Bentley was automatic again, finishing with 47 assists, four aces, 11 digs and a kill, while the nation’s kills and kills per set leader Raya Surinx had a game-high 20 along with a team-leading 13 digs and four aces.
Manitoba also held the nation’s most efficient attacker Kaylee Plouffe to eight kills and a season-worst .065 hitting percentage in the win.
Maryn Boldon picked up the slack with a team-high 19 kills along with three aces for TWU.
Another major story was the play of TWU setter and libero Kendra Kern, who stepped in for Sydney Gill, after the team’s primary passer went down in the second with an upper body injury. Kern finished with 24 assists in three sets and also had two blocks and six digs.
The Spartans didn’t trail in the first, as solid team defence led to a seven-point set win.
Trinity got solo blocks from Jayda Harder and Grace McGillivray, along with a combined 14 digs, while Boldon and Plouffe combined for eight kills, including the latter’s set winner from the right.
Bisons middle Eve Catojo provided a spark in the middle for her side, with four kills and no errors, including multiple tips into open spaces.
Manitoba dominated set two, winning by 15. Their service pressure was a problem for TWU, with Bentley laying down three aces, while Ella Gray also had an ace. The duo’s presence at the back line led to a stellar transition game which kept the Spartans out of system often.
Bentley added ten assists and two digs, with Surinx pacing the offence with six kills. A balanced attack from Bentley led to Surinx, Light Uchechukwu and Gray all recording at least ten attacks and a minimum of four kills after two.
Bentley’s shoot sets were money in the set and all evening, and her speed in delivering passes from one antenna to the other were notable as well, while she also kept multiple rallies alive by racing to loose balls.
“At her size, when I came here [three years ago], I just thought man, we need more strength to push the ball outside. It’s unbelievable what she’s done in her training to make that happen,” said 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. That’s strength and conditioning. You have to be strong enough to do it. She is reaping the rewards of the off-court training, because now she can do some of that easily.”
The Spartans took a 2-1 lead into the fourth after a seven-point set win. Their service pressure played an important role, as Grace McGillivray and Boldon both got in on the act with aces. Boldon’s ace gave her side a 9-8 lead and the visitors didn’t trail the rest of the way, with McGillivray adding a second ace to finish the set.
With the game on the line, the Herd didn’t relent. They took a 3-0 lead and controlled play at the service line in a 25-17 set win to take things to five.
Service pressure from Surinx was a major reason for her side’s momentum, as her challenging jump-spin serve (routinely clocked at 89-90 kilometres per hour) kept the T-Birds out of system, and also resulted in two aces.
Surinx went on an early serving run with the score 5-4, helping her side score four points in a row. A Bentley ace increased Manitoba’s lead to 16-8, while captain Light Uchechukwu — who was one of the best players on the court in the fourth and fifth sets and had nine kills — made the play of the game with the score 18-11 for the Bisons.
A Spartans attack had trickled past Manitoba’s front row defence and appeared to be settling in the left corner for a point. That’s until Uchechukwu sprinted halfway across the court, sprawling with one hand to keep the rally alive. A Spartans attack error eventually gave the Bisons the point.
“That was such a great, gritty defensive play. I think it just speaks to her level of commitment in terms of her position of leadership. It speaks volumes. She doesn’t have to say a word, she’s just going to bust her ass and get the ball, no matter what,” beamed Bentley.
“She made a bunch of those this weekend, it wasn’t just that one. It goes along with being much fitter, faster and stronger. She’s done such an amazing job. [The diving dig] was such an amazing play. There’s a lot that’s said [by Uchechukwu] without needing to say anything, just by the virtue of the effort.”
Manitoba opened up a 5-0 lead in the fifth and did not trail, completing the comeback. An Ella Gray tip into the pot (ten kills, ten digs, two assisted blocks) on a triple block to make it 2-0 was the highlight of the set.
Bentley made a perfect pass on the play, dishing a back set to the national team playmaker for the finish.
Boldon nailed a cross-court kill from the left and also had an assisted block to narrow the host’s lead to 5-3, but impressive defence from Bentley, libero Julia Arnold (12 digs), Surinx and company kept the hosts in front.
Despite being out of system, Manitoba still secured points in the set and game thanks to the passing of Arnold, a left side in high school who did her thing when called upon as a primary distributor.
Surinx then closed the game out at the service line, as the Bisons scored four points in a row in transition, including two kills from middle Brenna Bedosky and one from Uchechukwu, while Surinx also notched an ace.
“[Surinx’s] velocity [on her serve] never dropped. Her serving has been really consistent, it’s a lot steadier compared to the pre-season. She got after it. That goes back to strength and conditioning with Cole [Scheller]. If you can’t do it in the fifth set like she did, there’s no point in doing it, you’re wasting your time,” said Bentley.
“You’re either going to do it or you aren’t, it’s one or the other. She’s got to hit back row, she’s got to hit front row, she’s got to defend. If you’re not fit enough to carry that out at a high level without blinking, then it’s going to be difficult. Credit to her, she’s done a really good job of embracing that notion, as has the rest of the team. They have all reaped the benefits of it.”
Next up for the Bisons is another top-ten tilt, this one against No. 2 nationally ranked, UBC, who hold a one-game advantage over the Bisons for first in Canada West, at 15-1. It’ll be the first game the Herd are playing against the defending national champs since nationals last year, where UBC defeated the Bisons in the semi-finals. The Spartans, sitting in fourth at 12-2, will host 1-15 Brandon.
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