The Bisons women’s volleyball team held their 2025–26 home opener at the Investors Group Athletic Centre on Friday, Oct. 24. They faced the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds, and the match ended in a 3-1 loss for the Bisons. The Bisons fought hard in each set as they were highly contested. Despite the Bisons’ strong blocking and positioning, the Thunderbirds’ firepower and serving pressure had ultimately decided the match (27-25, 21-25, 25-22, 25-22).
The opening set was a thriller, with both teams battling point for point. The Bisons trailed close behind the whole set, but the Thunderbirds used tough serves and clean attacks to seal a 27–25 win and take the early lead.
The Bisons women’s volleyball head coach Ken Bentley shared his view on the first set. “I was glad that we fought back and stayed in the set and didn’t give up.”
The Bisons bounced back in the second, settling into a strong rhythm behind steady passing and improved blocking. The Bisons limited their errors and converted on key chances to even the scoreline with a 25–21 win. “I think we’re a pretty evenly matched team, and we just kept the ad [advantage] and had better control of that set.”
In the third set, the Thunderbirds regained control. Their hitters found more room to attack, while the defence tightened up just enough to weather Bisons’ rallies. The Thunderbirds pulled away in the final points to take the set 25–22.
The fourth saw another tight battle, but the Thunderbirds’ all-around consistency proved the difference. With 14 kills and a balanced defence, they held firmly the stretch to close the match 25–22 and secure the 3–1 victory.
Bentley commented on the Bisons’ performance on sets four and five. “We were pretty generous on our side with some of the errors we made, but credit [to] UBC for hanging in and earning the errors on our part. I felt like we lost those two sets on our own hand to a good degree, so that was disappointing.”
Some players stood out during the game. Akash Grewal and Aimee Skinner did wonders for the Thunderbirds offence, with Grewal getting 15 kills and Skinner getting 20 kills. Another standout player in the match was Raya Surinx for the Bisons, who was able to get nine digs.
Bentley shared his overall view on the game, saying “I felt like we were always scraping to get up close to them in the end, and servicing was probably a big part of that […] But we didn’t have to play a bunch better, we just had to play little bit better. We didn’t have to play miles better to have a better chance to win things, we just have to be cleaner on a few really important points that were makeable plays for us that we just didn’t make.
