Bisons take second straight bronze at nationals
van Lankvelt leads herd in 3-1 victory over Dalhousie
Vuthana Suon Staff
Playing some of his best volleyball of the season, Toon van Lankvelt led the Bison men’s volleyball team to a 3-1 (25-22, 26-24, 30-32, 25-21) victory over the Dalhousie Tigers and a second bronze medal in as many years at the 2006 Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) championships.
The Bisons were in Hamilton March 3-5 for their 25th appearance in the national championshp tournament in head coach Garth Pischke’s 26 years with the team. After beating Laval in straight sets (25-9, 25-23, 28-26) in the March 3 quarterfinal, the herd rode a wave of momentum to face a very strong Trinity Western Spartans team on March 4. Unfortunately, the Spartans were just a bit too much for the herd, forcing the Bisons to concede defeat in a five-set battle (25-20, 24-26, 21-25, 25-23, 15-11).
The game was marked by the Bisons’ inability to build on their leads and close out the sets. This was exemplified in the pivotal fourth set. Up 19-14, the herd allowed the Spartans to ring up three quick points before a Bison timeout. The break in action did little, however, to slow the Spartan advance.
Trinity Western was able to build on the momentum and took a 21-20 lead, before going on to win the set. The fifth and final set saw the Spartans string together a 14-8 lead, which ended in the eventual 15-11 victory to the dismay of the Bisons.
“We had our chances to win, but we made some unforced errors, Trinity had some great plays, and we had some bad calls . . . all in that order,” said Pischke in a phone interview.
Determined not to let their disappointment overshadow a shot at bronze, the brown and gold responded in the next game.
Keyed by van Lankvelt, who was named to the CIS Championship all-star team with 44 kills and 21 digs over the weekend, Manitoba came out fighting against Dalhousie from the very first set, taking a 16-14 lead into the second technical timeout. The Tigers brought it as close as 19-18 before collapsing due to mistakes and two van Lankvelt kills. The rest of the game was close, with the Tigers taking the third set. However, the Bisons came back to close out the fourth set and the match, 25-21.
“It was good to have won that game, and helps with the frustration that comes after losing against [Trinity Western],” said van Lankvelt.
With the bronze, Pischke has now coached a record-setting number of medal-winning teams — 22 out of a remarkable 25 CIS championship berths. For this feat, the CIS presented him with a plaque before the March 5 bronze-medal game.
However, he felt that the Bisons could have done even better than their bronze showing.
“I’m very happy with the bronze, but it’s never easy because we were just so close — a point or two away — from playing for gold.”
In all, Pischke was pleased with the effort the Bisons put forth all season. They were able to recover from a slow start and hit their stride later in the season, capping off their season by medalling in the championship tournament.
“Anytime that you finish a season playing the best that you can play is very satisfying and that seems to be the train of Bison volleyball,” said Pischke.
The Spartans would go on to defeat the Alberta Golden Bears in the final, claiming gold with a straight-sets victory (25-21, 25-8, 25-16).
