By Danielle Doiron 

The #10 University of Manitoba Bisons lost 3-1 (20-25, 29-31, 25-23, 25-22) to the Thompson Rivers WolfPack in an intense men's volleyball match at Investors Group Athletic Centre on Friday, Nov. 21.
 
The win brings the WolfPack to 5-8, while the Bisons drop to 6-7.
 
"We deserved to lose," said Bisons head coach Garth Pischke. "It's frustrating. We were really off in the first set and not efficient at all. We made a lot of unforced errors."
 
Thompson Rivers took an early lead, winning the first set 25-20 with a dominating attack percentage of 75. Casey Knight led the WolfPack with five kills in the first set alone. The Bisons' Josh Crellin, Devren Dear, and Ken Rooney each had two.
 
The teams went neck-and-neck in the second, with a total of 15 tie scores throughout the set and neither team ever leading by more than three points. Both teams played relentlessly through the extended set, each refusing to back down until Thompson Rivers scored twice in a row to claim a 31-29 set victory.
 
The close battle continued in the third. The Bisons fought through long rallies to keep Thompson Rivers from sweeping the match. Manitoba took advantage of two consecutive WolfPack service errors at the end of the set to come out on top and win the match 25-23.
 
But the Bisons couldn't hold on to fourth and fell to Thompson Rivers with a final set score of 25-22.
 
"We need to learn how to win close contests," Pischke said. "We had good blocking and hitting in the middle, but we need our outside hitters to make less errors."
 
The teams will face off again on Saturday, Nov. 22 at Investors Group Athletic Centre at 7 p.m. CST.