Bison Briefs

STEVE BOHRN STAFF

Women’s volleyball: Bisons solidify No. 1 ranking

The Bison women’s volleyball team regained their No. 1 ranking this past week, and they were not looking to give it up, as they made short work of the Saskatchewan Huskies in a pair of victories on Feb. 3 and 4.

The Bisons won the fi rst match 3- 0 (25-21, 25-14, 25-19) with relative ease. Sabrina Barnes led the team on both ends, as she had a team-high 16 kills, to go along with a team-high 14 digs.

Manitoba had a much more balanced attack on Sunday afternoon, but the results were much the same, as the Bisons took home a 3-0 (25- 12, 25-16, 25-17) victory. Ashley Voth led all Bisons with nine kills, but Barnes, Erin Nieuwenburg, and Amy Matthews followed closely behind with eight kills apiece.

The Bisons (15-2) will close out the regular season with a pair of road games against the Regina Cougars on Feb. 10 and 11.

Men’s volleyball: The Huskies get swept out of the Investors Group Athletic Centre

The Bison men’s volleyball team is peaking at exactly the right time, as they took two games from the Saskatchewan Huskies on Feb. 3 and 4 to fi nish off their regular season.

Despite both teams heading into their season’s last action, it was the Bisons who looked to separate themselves as legitamate contenders. They did just that with a dominating 3-0 (25-16, 25-21, 25-17) victory on Saturday afternoon. Toon van Lankvelt led the Bisons with 13 kills in the win.

It was more of the same Sunday afternoon, as the Bisons once again cruised to a 3-0 (25-10, 25-9, 25-21) victory. Josh Klassen led the team with 15 kills, three service aces, and five digs.

The Bisons (10-8) now have a bye week to prepare for the Canada West playoff s, which begin on Feb. 16.

Women’s basketball: Bisons get a win in their final home game of the regular season

It was an up-and-down weekend for the Bison women’s basketball team, as they had to settle for a split of their two games.

The team fell 86-71 to the Calgary Dinos on Feb. 2. Despite heading into the second half with a two-point lead, the Bisons had no defence for Calgary’s Courtney Coyle, who led all scorers with 23 points.

The Bisons headed into halftime with the lead again on Feb. 3, but this time gave a much-more sustained eff ort in the second-half to earn a 80-64 victory over the Lethbridge Pronghorns. Five players hit double fi gures in the game, with Kait Flett leading the way with 14 points.

The Bisons fi nish off their regular season in Regina, as they play the Cougars on Feb. 9 and 10.

Men’s basketball: Bisons playoff lights still flicker after weekend split

The Bison men’s basketball teams playoff hopes are still alive, though just barely, after splitting a pair of weekend games.

On Feb. 2, the Bisons lost a heartbreaker to the Calgary Dinos, 88-85. Despite holding the lead with 30 seconds left to play, the Bisons were unable to keep the Dinos off of the free-throw line, where the Dinos made sure to capitalize. The loss wasted a huge performance by Isaac Ansah, who had 35 points, to go along with 8 rebounds and 7 assists.

Knowing that their playoff hopes hung in the balance, the Bisons came out on Feb. 3 with a much stronger eff ort, leading to a 79-65 victory over the Lethbridge Pronghorns. It was Ansah once again leading the way for the Bisons, matching his 35 points from the night before.

The Bisons (7-13) now head into the fi nal weekend of the regular season for a huge showdown with the Regina Cougars on Feb. 9 and 10 that will decide which of the two teams will earn the fi nal playoff spot in the Great Plains division.

Men’s hockey: Regulation not enough for Bisons and Huskies

Twice, the Bisons and the Saskatchewan Huskies could not settle the outcome of their games in regulation, as the two teams battled to extra-time in their two games on Feb. 2 and 3.

The Huskies were able to pull out a 4-3 overtime victory on Friday night, despite a strong eff ort from the Bisons. It was the Huskies’ Trent Adamus who scored the game-winner, just 1:38 seconds into the extra frame.

The two teams once again battled to the wire on Saturday night, and even overtime wasn’t enough to decide a winner. In a shootout it was the Bisons who came out on top with a 1-0 victory. Nolan Walker and Chris Faloon were able to score in the shootout, while Krister Toews shut down the two shooters he faced, earning himself the shutout victory in the process.

With that, the Bisons season came to a disappointing end, as the team failed to qualify for the playoffs.

Swimming: Bisons women’s relay team sets new provincial shortcourse record

The Bisons women’s relay team broke an almost four-year-old record at the Manitoba/Saskatchewan 2007 Open Short Course Championship on Feb. 2. The team, consisting of Jennifer Toogood, Landice Yestrau, Lauren MacQuarrie and Julianne Toogood swam the 4x50-metre freestyle relay race in a time of 1:45.61, over half a second faster then the previous mark, set in February of ’03. The time was also the fastest in the CIS thus far this season.