This weekend, both the Bisons women’s and men’s volleyball took the court against the Mount Royal Cougars in the opening weekend of Canada West volleyball action. The men split their weekend, with a five-set win on Friday and a three-set loss on Saturday. The women lost both their games in two tight affairs, with both their games going to five sets.

The men’s volleyball team now has a record of 1-1, and the women fall to 0-2 to start the year.

 

Men

On Friday, the Bisons won their season opener 3-2 (25-16, 25-23, 18-25, 23-25, 12-15). It was a close game through all five sets, but the Bisons managed to close it out in the fifth set after letting the Cougars crawl back into the game.

Devren Dear, the usual suspect, led the Bisons with 20 kills on the night. Adam DeJonckheere had 15, and Mr. Reliable, Ken Rooney, had 9. Dear was all over the court on Friday, as he also led the team with 12 digs and four blocks.

The Bisons had a good hitting percentage on the evening, with .349, and had 59 kills in total.

On Saturday, the Bisons dropped the ball both figuratively and literally, as they committed 18 errors. They dropped the contest in three straight sets and saw their hitting percentage drop to a .168.

Scott Vercaigne led the Bisons with 13 kills, and setter Luke Herr led the herd in every single other statistical category. It was a great night for him personally, but one the Bisons would like to forget.

 

Women

The women went the distance on Friday against the Cougars, but lost 3-2 (18-25, 25-15, 25-27, 25-22, 15-11). The Bisons managed to win a crucial third set, but were unable to close out the next two and the Cougars ultimately handed them their first loss.

Tori Studler led the herd with 17 kills, which was the best out of anyone on the court. Cassie Bujan had 18 digs, which beat out the other players on both teams. The Bisons committed an astonishing 32 errors, gifting the Cougars a large chunk of points.

On Saturday, the Cougars bested the Bisons again in another game that needed all five sets. Manitoba committed far fewer errors with only 19, but was still unable to come out with a win.

First-year captain Kearley Abbott smacked home 13 kills, which led the Bisons. Studler had 12 of her own on the night. Studler led the Bisons with nine digs as well. Neither team’s hitting percentage was any good, as both Mount Royal and Manitoba were hitting about .190.

 

The Bisons volleyball teams open up their seasons at home against the Regina Cougars at Investors Group Athletic Centre on Nov. 4-5.