It was a quiet weekend at the U of M campus.

With only the Bisons women’s hockey team in town, all eyes were on Wayne Fleming Arena. But the best action was possibly going down outside the province, as the rest of the herd travelled to Alberta and B.C. for  a series of tough tests.

Men’s hockey

While the women’s team was in tough against a strong University of Calgary Dinos squad at home, the men had a similarly tall order to fill against the Dinos in Calgary. Despite a lopsided game one, the U of M battled back in game two for the weekend split.

Bisons netminder Tyler Brown had a night to forget Friday, with a 6-3 loss to the Dinos. Brown stopped 20 of 26 shots in the loss.

Dane Gibson and Coda Gordon combined for a pair of goals in the first before Jeremey Leipsic scored for the U of M. The Dinos scored three unanswered before Colton Veloso got the Bisons back on the board, but Gordon picked up his second of the night to make it 6-2 U of C heading into the third.

Geordie Keane scored for the U of M in the final frame and the herd ended the night with a loss.

Veloso continued a strong weekend Saturday, potting a pair in a 2-1 win by the Bisons over the Dinos to earn the weekend split. He opened the scoring at 17:08 in the first period and doubled it up to 2-0 with a second-period marker.

The U of C did not back down, and came back in the third with a goal from Tim Vanstone on the powerplay, but Riley Lamb shut the door to help the U of M secure the win.

Men’s basketball

Men’s basketball continued its winning ways over the weekend, improving to 11-1 on the season with a sweep of the Mount Royal University Cougars.

The Bisons took game one of the weekend in a 79-70 win. Detailed results were not available at press-time.

The U of M completed the weekend sweep Saturday with a 94-89 win over the Cougars. Rashawn Browne led the way for the herd with a game-high 33 points, while Cameron O’Hara was dominant below the bucket with 12 rebounds.

Women’s basketball

It proved to be a tough weekend for MRU basketball, as the Bisons women’s team also earned a sweep against the Cougars.

The U of M paced the Cougars in game one of the weekend, holding a 42-32 lead at the half. MRU had a strong third quarter but the U of M held on for the 87-77 win.

Taylor Randall dominated the floor with a 29-point game, while Lauren Bartlett had a 20-point outing that brought down seven rebounds.

In Saturday’s action the Cougars were able to stifle the Bisons scoring, if only slightly, as the Bisons came from behind to claim an 81-65 win. MRU held a slight 34-31 lead at the half, but the U of M dropped 50 points in the second half while limiting the Cougars to just 31.

Randall again led the herd, this time with 23 points, while Addison Martin led in rebounds with eight.

Women’s volleyball

Coming off a pair of losses to the Dinos a week prior, the Bisons women’s volleyball team looked to get back in the win column against the Thompson Rivers University Wolfpack.

This goal was not accomplished Friday, as the herd was dismantled in a 3-0 loss to TRU.

The match got off to a less-than-stellar start, as TRU rode a pair of four-point runs to bury the Bisons 25-16 in the first set. The U of M put up a fight in a 25-22 second-set loss, but the Wolfpack closed out the match with a 25-12 third set to win in straight sets.

Saturday was little better for the herd, as it failed to secure a single set win on the weekend, falling 3-0 again to TRU.

The U of M put up a good fight in the first set — a 25-22 loss — but could not hold off the Wolfpack. TRU secured the match in straight sets with a 25-13 second set and 25-18 third set.

Men’s volleyball

While the women’s team was swept, the Bisons men’s volleyball team got back on the right side of .500 over the weekend in Kamloops, B.C. — if only for one game.

If not for a third-set charge by the Wolfpack, the Bisons easily could have swept TRU off the court, but instead settled for a 3-1 win. The U of M got the game started off right with a pair of 25-21 wins for a 2-0 lead in the match, before TRU battled to a 29-27 third-set win to force a fourth.

Late in the fourth set, a two-point run was capped off by a Kevin Negus kill to seal the set 28-26, and match 3-1 in favour of the U of M.

TRU came out hungry Saturday and looked to blow the Bisons away in straight sets, but a late rally pushed the game all the way to a fifth set, with TRU pulling off a 3-2 win.

The Wolfpack opened Saturday’s action with a 25-20 first set and 25-23 second set to knock the U of M on the ropes. A strong 25-21 third set got the Bisons back in the game and a dominant 25-17 fourth set forced a deciding fifth.

Both sides battled hard but TRU edged out the U of M 15-12 to take the match and split the weekend.