Pischke reaches milestone
Solid victory over TWU earns Pischke 1000th career victory as Bison head coach
Pischke has 1,000 reasons to be choked up.
With the home court sweep over the Trinity Western Spartans this past weekend, not only did Manitoba defeat the second-ranked team in the nation in two straight matches, they also earned head coach Garth Pischke his 1,000th career victory as head coach of the Bisons. Pischke's incredible feat comes after his 1,221th match, giving his career an 81.9 per cent winning percentage.
"It's been a long career," an emotional Pischke said after achieving the milestone. "I guess I'm really old, I never used to get emotional like this."
Pischke is currently in his 24th year as head coach of the Herd, and has along the way piled up quite a list of accomplishments. During the past 23 years, he has coached his team to the National Championships 22 times, racking up nine CIS titles, nine second-place finishes, and two bronze medals. In Canada West play, Pischke has compiled a 429-90 record, including a remarkably perfect 102-0 mark against Regina and a solid 150-36 mark against the cross-town rival Wesmen.
"To go that long, obviously you must be enjoying what you're doing," Pischke noted. "I hope I can continue on for a little while longer."
Over the years, Pischke has seen a lot of great players come and go, and has seen the game transform into the sport that it has become today. He added that the game has changed a lot, as the rally point system used today has only been in effect in CIS competition since 1999.
As for the matches themselves, Manitoba beat up on the second-ranked Spartans both days, as they won the first match 3-1 (25-15, 20-25, 25-20, 26-24), and then shut them out in the second match 3-0 (25-21, 25-17, 25-20). Match one was highlighted by Murray Laidlaw, who led the Bisons with 15 kills and 10 digs. Josh Klassen also added 13 kills and Mike Munday had 10 digs for Manitoba, while Steven Rogalsky had 15 kills and five digs for TWU in the losing effort. Match two featured a come-from-behind win in set one as Manitoba overcame a 20-18 deficit to win the set, and never looked back. Laidlaw was once again solid, firing 18 kills at TWU, while Chris Roy had 12 kills in the loss.
"Our young guys are playing [well]; [setter] Mike [Munday] is playing fantastically, and that helps everybody play to a higher level when you've got a quarterback like that," Pischke noted.
The Herd are on the road this weekend, travelling to Regina to take on the Rams. Manitoba will be looking to keep their coach's undefeated record versus Regina intact. The matches take place on Nov. 13 at 7 p.m. and Nov. 14 at 3 p.m.