The Bisons women’s volleyball team continued their winning streak from the previous weekend, sweeping the University of Regina Cougars 3-0, 3-0 over the weekend.
On Friday, Nov. 21, the Bisons won the three sets 25-23, 25-22, and 25-14.
In the first set, the Bisons got off to a strong start, scoring the first four points to take a 4-0 lead. The Cougars retaliated, scoring two points to make it 4-2, but the Bisons maintained their momentum. The teams traded points, with the Cougars nearly leveling the score at 6-5. The Bisons then took a 12-8 lead, but the Cougars fought back to tie up the game at 16-16.
The teams continued to trade points, with the score tied at 20-20, before the Cougars took a 20-22 lead. However, the Bisons rallied, tallying points to tie the score at 23-23. Despite the Cougars calling two timeouts, the Bisons emerged victorious, winning the set 25-23.
In the second set, the Cougars initially took a 0-3 lead, but the Bisons quickly regained their footing, tying the score at 5-5. The teams continued to trade points, with neither gaining a significant advantage, until the Cougars took a 16-20 lead from 14-14. The Bisons then responded with three consecutive points, reducing the gap and eventually tying the score at 22-22. They then scored three additional points to win the set 25-22.
The Bisons dominated the third set, scoring the first two points and never looking back. Eve Catojo’s seven successful consecutive serves helped the team build a comfortable lead, and they went on to win the set 25-14.
Catojo expressed how pleased she was with the win after the Cougars tried to level up the points despite the Bisons’ early lead. “I would have really liked to be able to close it out a little bit faster and maybe not give them so many points at the end there, just to know that we can pull ourselves up by our bootstraps when we need to and finish off a set. But I’m still really proud. We worked really hard to be able to have that advantage, and that gives us the privilege of playing with a little bit more freedom at the end, and we still were able to pull off a great win with a big deficit. So I’m proud of everyone,” she said.
Joe Moore, the Bisons women’s volleyball assistant coach, also thought that the team was confident in the third set after gaining a significant advantage earlier. “It’s a natural thing to relax and let your guard down a little bit when you start building a big lead, and our focus was trying to ignore the score and just play in the moment. I think the girls did a good job collecting themselves and staying steady,” he stated.
The Bisons’ performance was fuelled by a total of 39 kills, compared to the Cougars’ 30.
In the rematch on Saturday, Nov. 22, the Bisons continued their winning streak, winning all three sets 25-12, 25-21, and 27-25.
In the first set, the Cougars scored the first point, but the Bisons quickly retaliated with three consecutive points to take a 3-1 lead. The Bisons continued to dominate, creating a larger margin and eventually taking a 20-9 lead. The margin proved to be too much for the Cougars to recover, and the Bisons won the set 25-12.
In the second set, the Bisons started strong, winning four consecutive points to take a 4-0 lead. The Cougars retaliated with three consecutive points to make the score 4-3. After both teams traded points to make a 5-3 lead for the Bisons, the Bisons scored seven more consecutive points to take a 13-4 lead. Despite the Cougars’ comeback, scoring five more points to make the score 19-17 and eventually 21-20, the Bisons held strong and won the set 25-21.
The third set was a tightly contested battle, with both teams trading points and neither gaining a significant advantage. The Cougars mounted a comeback from 22-19 to tie the score at 22-22 and eventually took a 24-25 lead. However, the Bisons showed their resilience, scored three consecutive points to win the set 27-25.
The Bisons’ strong performance was fuelled by a total of 40 kills, compared to the Cougars’ 35. The sweep improves the Bisons’ record to 6-2 and solidifies their position in the standings.
The Bisons women’s volleyball head coach, Ken Bentley, explained the key to his team’s success. “It started in June with preparing to play these tough matches and getting fit and being prepared to go the distance of a long season,” he said.
The Bisons play the Thompson Rivers Wolfpack on Friday, Nov. 28 at 7:30 p.m. CT and Saturday, Nov. 29 at 5 p.m. CT in Kamloops, British Columbia.
