Photo credit Manitoba Athletics
WINNIPEG - The No. 2 ranked Manitoba Bisons men’s volleyball team beat the UBC Okanagan Heat at the Investors Group Athletic Centre on Thursday, February 16. This is first playoff game of the 2012 Canada West Quarter Final best-of-three-playoff series and both teams will continue the series on Friday. Manitoba won in three sets (25-21, 27-25, 25-21) against the unranked Heat.
Chris Voth led the Bisons in kills (12) and kept the team calm during the tense last minutes of each set. Voth was ready on the left side during the last point of the match. He waited patiently while the Bisons defense sent an overbump over the net. The Heat responded with a swing from the right side and Voth stuffed the UBC-O player to end the game.
The Heat stayed aggressive, swinging consistently after broken plays, which was enough to force Bisons coach Garth Pischke to call several time-outs during the game. Riley McFarland helped keep the Heat on the scoreboard with his right side hits. The fourth year player finished with 20 kills. He easily made his way around Manitoba’s block or at least got the Bisons defense scattering.
“It was frustrating because we had a couple lapses,” said Bison men's volleyball head coach Pischke. “It was a little uncharacteristic for our team, the second and the third sets. We gave up a huge rash of points and we haven’t done that all year.”
UBC-O kept a steady lead in the second set, but the Bisons crept back and managed to tie the set at 18 points each. It was back and forth from then on but Bisons middle player Joseph Brooks ended the set with a towering stuff block. Without the well-needed momentum to take the Heat into the start of the third, the UBC-O players trailed behind and couldn’t catch up fast enough to stop the Bisons. They stayed aggressive at the net but racked up 19 overall serving errors.
“That’s a feisty team over there,” said coach Pischke after the game. “They work real hard and they’re a very athletic team so we got to find a way to pretend they are the best team in the world and play for every point. It’s not over until it’s over and you can’t have lapses.”
Game two against UBC-O starts Friday February 17 at 7 p.m. CT at the Investors Group Athletic Centre.
Source:
Manitoba Sports Info