Bisons advance with sweep of UBCO

WINNIPEG – A combined 11 service aces helped the Manitoba Bisons beat the UBCO Heat 3-1 (22-25, 25-19, 25-19, 25-19) on Friday night at IGAC, sweeping the visitors in two games in their play-in series.

It’s the first playoff series win for the Herd under head coach Arnd ‘Lupo’ Ludwig. Along the way, middle Jordon Heppner set a rally scoring era school record for assisted blocks in a playoff match, with nine.

Heppner’s play at the net was aided by the Herd’s consistent service pressure. They kept the Heat on their heels and out of system often, combining for 23 assisted blocks overall.

True freshman Owen Weekes had four aces to lead the way, while captain Spencer Grahame had three. Offensively, Karil Dadash Adeh and Owen Weekes combined for 26 kills.

The Heat got 36 assists and a game-high 15 digs from setter Zach van Geel in the loss.

“Blocking is usually one of our stronger elements, and we did not block well yesterday. We had to face that. [The Heat] played well, the setter had really good distribution, but there were a couple of balls where I felt like we could have done a bit more. Today that was one of the focuses, get more aggressive on the block,” said Bisons head coach Arnd ‘Lupo’ Ludwig.

“We did that pretty well. Jordy didn’t have his greatest game yesterday but he bounced back today and played awesome.”

For the second night in a row, the Heat took set one. Van Geel facilitated the offence brilliantly, with 11 assists and five different players recording a kill.

Seba Manuel and Lucas Woelders combined for seven kills, including a few smashes from the back row.

Manitoba took their first lead at 12-11, and went on a big run after, paced by back-to-back Spencer Grahame aces and a kill off hands where the ball flew into the stands for a 15-12 lead, but eight attacking errors and four serving errors allowed the Heat to battle back.

The visitors scored eight of the following nine points, and Manuel gave his side a 21-17 lead off a pipe attack, with UBCO holding on the rest of the way for the set win.

The nation’s best serving team put the pressure on in set two, generating an early lead at the line which they never relinquished. 

The country’s leader in aces, Dadash Adeh put down two, while Weekes added a third, painting the left corner brilliantly to give his side a 10-5 lead. Dadash Adeh added his second three points later.

The Heat got an ace from van Geel, while Thys Weststrate contributed on his third assisted block of the game in the early portions of the second, but the hosts consistently had the answer winning the set by six.

Service pressure continued to be a factor in set three. Grahame’s third ace blew a close game open, as Manitoba took a 7-5 lead and scored seven of the next 11 points.

The Heat continued to play inspired defence, including a pancake dig from libero Stephen Searcy (seventh of the game) that led to a Bisons error, cutting Manitoba’s lead to 21-18.

But Dadash Adeh had the response with his tenth kill from the right, and Manitoba won the set by six. 

“Yesterday was all skill and physical. Today was super mental. We knew that going on,” said Grahame.

“We knew they were going to come in and play against us. After that first set we really buckled down and started hitting our shots. Putting two solid games together was important and the guys really showed up for it. I’m super happy for this group.”

A Jonah Dueck ace, the ninth of the game for Manitoba, helped the hosts take a 6-1 lead in set four. The Heat got within three following a Weststrate and van Geel block to make it 8-5, but the hosts had the response.

Dadash Adeh went cross-court from the right, and one play later he dove to the ground for the one-handed dig, with Sammy Ludwig and Heppner combining for a block right after as Manitoba took a 17-10 lead.

Manuel continued to be a factor in the front row, hitting above .300 on the night, but Manitoba’s service pressure was too much.

Weekes put down his third and fourth aces to make it 22-14, as the Bisons won the fourth by six. The Heat had four aces overall, but also 17 service errors.

“They did what we expected them to do. We know they can serve. What we talked about, was we can’t match their service pressure, but we can’t miss serves,” said Heat head coach Scott Koskie.

“We got into that during the series in Kelowna. Not that we missed a lot, but we just missed [serves] at the wrong time. It’s hard. You play a team that has that much service pressure, you give them that much of a window, then it’s hard and you’re kind of chasing.” 

Manitoba advances to play cross-town rival Winnipeg in the quarterfinals next weekend.