By: Kelly O'Donnell, Bison Sports
WINNIPEG – The MacEwan University Griffins men's volleyball team took the win in a five-set match (25-20, 30-32, 25-15, 20-25, 19-17) against the Manitoba Bisons, splitting the weekend series at the Investors Group Athletic Centre on Saturday, Nov 18. both teams now have a 2-6 record in 2017-18 Canad West season.
"We made so many errors, it's unbelievable," said Bison head coach Garth Pischke. "In the first set we made 19 errors. Our errors were really not good, and at really bad times too. We got what we deserved and that's all I can say."
MacEwan Griffins power Ryan Zachary led his team with 23 kills, and middle Max Vriend with 11 blocks. The home side had 27 kills from Adam DeJonckheere while Kyle Martnes had seven digs during the loss.
The Griffins held the lead through the first set, pulling ahead mid-set by five points. MacEwan power Shane Kerrison finished the final two points of the set with a roll shot into the hole, and a left-side spike that went off the Bisons block, winning the set 25-20.
The teams endured a long fight in the second set, with the Bisons winning 32-30 after a net violation by MacEwan. Bisons power players Adam DeJonckheere and Scott Vercaigne both registered six kills in the set.
MacEwan held a strong lead for the third set, winning 25-15 after a right-side attack from Zachary. However, the Bisons came back with the momentum in the fourth set winning 25-20 to bring the teams into a fifth set.
Bisons took an early lead in the fifth, but the Griffins came back in the end after a huge right-side hit from Kerrison, winning the match for the Griffins 19-17.
"It's very difficult when you see guys playing at a certain level. My philosophy always is, if you can do it right once, you can do it all the time. Unless something gets into your head," said Pischke.
Manitoba will play the Thompson Rivers WolfPack next weekend in Kamloops, BC at 9:45 p.m. CT on Friday, and 8:45 p.m. on Saturday night (Nov. 24, 25) while MacEwan travel to play at UBC on the same weekend. The matches can be seen live on CanadaWest.TV.
Game Leaders
Kills:
Manitoba – Adam DeJonckheere 27
MacEwan – Ryan Zachary 23
Digs:
Manitoba – Kyle Martens 11
MacEwan – Shane Kerrison 12
Blocks:
Manitoba – Adam DeJonckheere, Dustin Spiring, Brendan Warren 5
MacEwan – Max Vriend 11