Written by: Reynold Beniza

The Manitoba Bisons men's volleyball team lost to the Calgary Dinos in three straight sets on Friday, October 10, 2014 to split their weekend series at the Investors Group Athletic Centre in the opening weekend of the Canada West season.

Already down two sets to none, Manitoba faced an uphill battle in the match's potentially last set. Calgary led by as many as four points throughout the third set and the Bisons couldn't sustain any offensive attack to slow down the Dinos and they dropped the third straight set 25-19.

With the loss, the Manitoba Bisons drop to 1-1 on the season, while the Calgary Dinos improve to 1-1.

"We made some mistakes that we need to get better at," said Bisons Head Coach Garth Pischke.

"A lot can be learned from losses and where your weaknesses are, and they certainly exploited that from one night to the next."

Calgary came into Friday's match seeking redemption after losing to the Bisons in four sets on Thursday. Calgary took the lead early as they exploited the holes in Manitoba's defense while showing none of their own as they recorded 6.5 total team blocks in the first set. The visiting Dinos led by as many as ten points as they overpowered the Bisons on their way to a 25-15 first set win.

Both teams struggled to build any sort of sustainable lead in the second set. Manitoba had the biggest lead of the set with three points, but Calgary quickly closed in to tie the game at 19 apiece. The back and forth continued past 25 points until the Dinos were finally able to take a commanding 2-0 match lead after winning the second set 28-26.

Keith West led the scoring for the Calgary Dinos, recording 13 kills along with two service aces. Not far behind West was Connor Frehlich, who contributed 11 kills to the Calgary effort.

Adam DeJonckheere and Devren Dear led the way for the Bisons' scoring effort, recording 13 and 11 kills respectively.

The Bisons will host the University of Regina Cougars next week on Friday, October 17, 2014 at 8 p.m. CT in the Investors Group Athletic Centre.

Meanwhile, the University of Calgary Dinos will host the Thompson Rivers University WolfPack at 7:30 p.m. MT in the Jack Simpson Gym.