Bisons down T-Birds in straight sets

VANCOUVER – For the second night in a row it was the visiting Manitoba Bisons making their presence felt on the west coast as they downed the UBC Thunderbirds in straight sets 3-0 (27-25, 25-15, 25-20) Saturday at War Memorial Gym.
 
With the setback the T-Birds record now sits at 12-2 on the Canada West campaign while it also marks the first time the ‘Birds have suffered a regular season series sweep in nearly two-years, dating back to mid-February 2023 (vs Winnipeg).
 
With the win the Bisons improved to 12-4 on the season and leading the way for the visitors was Raya Surinx with a game-high 19 kills to go along with her eight digs. Other standouts for Manitoba included Brenna Bedosky who counted seven kills and two digs while Eve Catojo recorded six kills. Andi Almonte registered five kills and seven digs while Julia Arnold amassed a team high 16 digs.
 
For the ‘Birds it was Trinity Solecki recording a team high 13 kills to go along with six digs, Lucy Borowski was a force yet again with 10 kills and five digs while Akash Grewal tallied five kills and a game high four service aces. Olivia Furlan matched Arnold’s total with the Bisons, each scoring a game high 16 digs on the evening.
 
The match opened with each team trading points back and forth in the first set, two straight kills from Borowski gave UBC its first three-point cushion at 10-7 followed by a kill and a service ace from Leonora Barbulovich-Nad sandwiched by a kill from Solecki to give the T-Birds a 13-10 lead. Manitoba would respond with five straight points highlighted by kills from Syrinx and Bedosky and Syrinx’ lone service ace of the contest that saw the Bisons edge in front 14-13, causing UBC head coach Doug Reimer to call their first timeout. The Bisons would collect the next two points out of the break before fast forwarding to Catojo enjoying a sequence that saw her deliver a block followed by a kill to put the Bisons up 22-19. UBC would claw back with a kill from Borowski followed by an attack error from Manitoba to even things at 22-22 prompting Bisons head coach Ken Bentley to call their first time out. The visitors would drop the next two points causing Benltey, staring at a 24-22 scoreline to call a second timeout in quick succession. This time it sparked his group and Bedosky especially who stepped up with two blocks and a kill to eventually overtake UBC and take the opening set 27-25.

 
The Bisons seemingly carried over some momentum from the first set into the second frame jumping out to a quick 4-0 lead, alerting Reimer to call an early timeout in hopes of settling his T-Birds crew. Manitoba would collect the next two points to go up 6-0 before UBC started clawing back and eventually closing the gap to two points, finding themselves down 8-6 after an emphatic combined block from Solecki and Jocelyn Lenarcic. The Bisons would extend their lead from there on the strength of kills from Almonte, Catojo and Syrinx to open up a 17-9 advantage and prompting another UBC timeout. Manitoba would keep their foot on the gas with help from a Catojo dump at the net and a Bedosky block while the T-Birds responded with kills from Solecki and Borowski to pull within nine at 24-15 but a serve into the net from the hosts saw them drop the second set 25-15.
 
The third set resembled the first set where the teams’ traded points until a Borowski kill put UBC ahead 10-8 prompting Manitoba to call a timeout. Solecki would make her presence felt with back-to-back kills to go up 12-9 before the tides turned the Bisons way with Bedosky delivering a kill followed by consecutive T-Birds serves going short then long to bring the visitors back in front 14-13, causing UBC to call their first timeout of the set. As the set progressed a combined block from Catojo and teammate Ella Gray gave Manitoba a 21-19 lead, this followed an illegal rotation call against the ‘Birds and a Gray kill, eventually taking us to match point where Katreena Bentley ended the proceedings in decisive fashion with her second service ace of the night to secure the 25-20 win.

 
The Bisons enjoyed an overall .281 hitting percentage, more than doubling up UBC’s .137 hitting percentage on the night.
 
Up next the T-Birds will look to get back on track when they host the Thompson Rivers University Wolfpack for a weekend series next Friday January 31^st at 5:30 p.m. PT and Saturday February 1^st beginning at 4:00 p.m. PT at War Memorial Gym.