Bisons clip T-Birds’ wings
Men’s volleyball squad guaranteed spot in nationals with sweep
Vuthana Suon Staff
Displaying their playoff readiness, the nationally fourth-ranked Bison men’s volleyball team denied an upset bid by the fifth-ranked UBC Thunderbirds by winning on Saturday Feb.18 at the Investors Group Athletic Centre. With the series win, the Bisons have guaranteed themselves a spot in the national championship tournament for the 25th time in head coach Garth Pischke’s 26 seasons behind the bench.
On Friday night, in the first game of the best-of-three series, the Bisons cruised to an easy straight-sets victory (25-20, 25-15, 25-16), which may have lit a fire under the T-Birds.
Embarrassed by the lopsided loss, the Thunderbirds responded in game two on Saturday with more energy, but could not find an answer for the herd’s playoff experience, falling in four sets (25-23, 23-25, 25-19, 25-20).
Using the momentum gained from a hard-fought first set, in which both teams were neck and neck until the Bisons were finally able to pull through with a win, the Thunderbirds went right at the Bisons.
The T-Birds were helped by the contributions of third-year hitter Andrew Bonner, who recorded a game-high 18 kills and 5 service aces. The T-Birds took an early 5-0 lead in the second and were up by as much as seven before the herd rallied to go up 19-17. However, UBC fought back and took the set 23-25.
“We really only had one bad bit in that match, and it was the beginning of the second set,” said Pischke. “But we battled back and had a chance to win that match, and I was proud of that.”
Smarting from the poor second set, the brown and gold looked to exact revenge. Led by the trio of Josh Klassen, Matt Balchin and Toon van Lankvelt, Manitoba roared back in the final two sets. The trio was pivotal in cutting short any rallies by the Thunderbirds, with timely kills and blocks.
In the end, the Bisons’ playoff experience was too much for the T-Birds, who only had three players with four or more years of experience. This was key in the later stages of the game, as the UBC players began to unravel.
“The atmosphere and crowd definitely was a factor in our play, as well as some other stuff that I can’t and won’t comment on,” said an obviously disheartened Schick.
Schick may have been referring to the officiating. There were a number of calls against UBC and this seemed to infuriate the coach, and may have played a part in unsettling the team.
However, this controversy did little to mar the herd’s celebration. The Bisons will be competing next weekend in the Canada West conference final four, but regardless of the outcome, their spot in the national championships is guaranteed.
“Our guys showed a lot of composure, and I’m just proud of them,” said Pischke. “The nationals are in the next two weeks, and it is certainly our goal to win it.”
Cover image: Bison fourth-year left side Toon van Lankvelt (10).
