WINNIPEG – Down 1-0, and trailing by as much as seven in the second set, the No. 2 ranked Manitoba Bisons remained relentless, coming back to defeat the Mount Royal Cougars 3-1 (17-25, 25-14, 25-23, 25-21).
 
The victory was the Herd's 16th in a row, and their sixth straight in the playoffs at IGAC dating back to last season's run to the conference title. Manitoba now advances to the Canada West semi-finals, and will face either Alberta, Fraser Valley or Saskatchewan in the final four. The game will either be played at Fraser Valley or Alberta, the latter of whom swept Winnipeg in two matches.
 
"That first set, we played convenient volleyball, which is not our identity normally. We were playing with too much convenience. Winning is about inconvenience, that's just the bottom line. I thought after that we were really good," said Bisons head coach Ken Bentley.
 
"Even in the deficit we stayed in it. We stayed patient. We didn't lose our poise. We kept working, and we kept hitting, which I thought was super important. We did that right until the end."
 
The game featured a variety thrilling rallies, bringing the crowd of nearly 1,000 to their feet throughout. Overall, the two sides combined for 117 digs, led by liberos Julia Arnold (14 for Manitoba) and Paige Davidson (13 for the Cougars).
 
A physical Mount Royal side showcased tons of incredible play at the net, while four different Cougars had at least seven kills, led by Winnipeg native Mya Morgan's nine, along with a game-high six assisted blocks. Sydney Scatcherd also had nine kills for MRU.
 
Scatcherd added four service aces, as did Lexi Herrod while the Cougars had 16 as a team.
 
Mount Royal's play at the back line was particularly notable in set one, where they had seven aces, led by Herrod's three.
 
The Cougars erupted to a 19-6 lead at one point, but Manitoba kept in the fight. Ella Gray came off the bench for two critical back row digs that led to a Raya Surinx (game high 20 kills) blast off hands from the right, and Surinx followed that up with an ace to make the score 22-16.
 
But Mount Royal played clean the rest of the way, with Herrod ending the set on a dump into the pot. It was the first time the Bisons had lost the first set of a match since November 2nd against Alberta.
 
Regardless, the confidence Manitoba gained near the end of the first led to a strong response in set two.
 
Manitoba hit .552 overall and had just two errors, with setter Katreena Bentley doing a little bit of everything.
 
A one-handed diving Bentley dig led to a Light Uchechukwu kill, and she added an ace later on, followed by an Eve Catojo ace, as the Bisons broke a four-point game wide open late.
 
Bentley ended the set by winning a joust at the net for her second kill of the match. She had 23 assists, two aces and two kills entering the third.
 
Set three proved to be the turning point.
 
The Cougars led by as much as seven at 10-3, including an ace from Bronwynn Davies-Neira, one of three on the day for her. Team Canada NextGen selection Emma Boyd added a key block and had two kills, one of which was a brilliant cross-court shot from the left over a double block as the hosts built momentum.
 
But Manitoba stayed in the fight, remaining true to their identity by playing gritty volleyball. They dove all over the court, tracked down countless attacks at the other end of the gym and flat out refused to lose the set.
 
The point of the match came with the score 19-18 for MRU.
 
Surinx and Uchechukwu both dove to save the rally on enormous blasts from a physical Cougars front line. Their efforts paid off, as Bentley eventually fed left side Andi Almonte, who elevated to smash down the game-tying kill over a double block.
 
Almonte's kill was one of 11 individually, and she added two key aces along with nine digs while hitting .313.
 
"I kind of take on the role of just being consistent, being there when the team needs me and doing what the team needs me to do. I may not be getting all of the big kills, the big blocks, the big serves, but I'm there to just be there for the team," she said.
 
"I'm really proud of the way we handled business, even after that first set when things didn't go our way. We came back even though we didn't win. The next set, we re-set, and we just kept playing as hard as we could."
 
A Megan Jones ace gave the Cougars a 21-19 lead in the third, but again, Manitoba pushed back.
 
Almonte put down an ace that tied the game, and middle Eve Catojo – the U SPORTS leader in hitting percentage – followed that up with a front row smash for Manitoba's first lead of the set.
 
Overall, the Bisons had ten service aces in the game, led by three from Bentley and two each from Almonte, Surinx and middle Brenna Bedosky.
 
"I thought we served really well under pressure tonight. We take pains in practice to put people in those situations, because there's a time where you just have to make a serve. That's it. Our prep coming in, we spent a lot of time on it. They made some adjustments and kept us off balance. They ran a really balanced offence tonight. It was hard for us to cheat too much. We had to make some adjustments in the match and I thought we did a great job of that," said Bentley.
 
"With Andi, I needed her to keep hitting the ball. She did. That was really important for her tonight. In the end she took a chew on a bunch of really important balls that we needed from her."
 
Mount Royal tied the game, but the Herd's overall fitness paid off right after. Almonte sprinted all over the floor for two enormous digs as part of the longest rally of the contest. Uchechukwu eventually ended things with a kill that painted the back line.
 
Surinx added a right side kill immediately after, and an MRU error ended the third. Through three, the Bisons had 47 digs, showing their relentlessness and overall team fitness.
 
"We've been grinding since June of last year," added Almonte.
 
"We've been on the hills out in 30 degree weather all summer and as soon as the season starts, we do this circuit called a psycho circuit. It's actually psycho if you've seen us do it. We've been doing that every week up until next week. We have really been instilling our fitness. If you get tired out there, that shouldn't be the way you lose."
 
The fourth set was also decided in the 20s in another thrilling back and forth affair.
 
Manitoba led 10-5 at one point, but the Cougars were resilient, eventually tying the game at 19 on a Boyd ace.
 
The Herd pushed back with a two-point run capped by an Uchehukwu kill, but once again MRU's service pressure became a factor.
 
Herrod tied the game at 21 thanks to her fourth ace, but the Bisons shut the door from there, scoring the next four in a row to secure the win.
 
Surinx had the match-winning kill off the hands of a double block, one of two kills in the final four points for Manitoba, while Uchechukwu and Catojo added an assisted block.
 
"I think a lot of it comes down to experience. We've got a very young team and out of the gals that are on the court, we've only had maybe two in this kind of a situation before. After 20 in a couple of those sets, we were just a little hesitant on some of our attacking and were tipping when we should have been spinning still. We just weren't as crisp as we needed to be," said Cougars head coach Rhonda Schmuland.
 
"The only way you get experience is by being there. The Bisons have lots of experience in this space. You could see that. Their veteran players knew how to handle that better. It makes me very excited for next year, because every time you get a little more experience."
 
"We're doing some drills that are 20 to 25 where we're re-living those moments as much as we can in practice and being really disciplined," added Bentley on his side's preparation in order to be ready for the final five points.
 
"If a team earns a point on us, it happens. We just can't give any points away in 20 to 25. I thought we managed it really well. What we say often is we want to play freely but not carelessly. We spend a lot of time on that."