Written by: Reynold Beniza

The Manitoba Bisons women's volleyball team is now 0-2 after losing their second match against the Calgary Dinos on Friday, October 10, 2014 at the Investors Group Athletic Centre in the opening weekend of the Canada West season.

Manitoba looked to bounce back after Thursday's tough loss to open the season and looked strong at the start of the match, but couldn't get anything going at the start of the fifth and final set. Calgary opened the deciding set with an aggressive attack, scoring eight straight points as Manitoba looked lost.

The Dinos looked just about ready to put the game away before Manitoba started to mount a comeback. Once down 9-1, the Bisons found themselves down by just two as Calgary led 13-11. But Manitoba couldn't complete the comeback, and the visitors left Manitoba winless to the start the season after taking the fifth set 15-11.

"I think the team needs to appreciate the competitive level you need to be in this conference to be successful," said Bisons Head Coach Ken Bentley after the loss. "I think that it was a lot better than yesterday."

With the loss, the Manitoba Bisons fall to 0-2 on the season, while the Calgary Dinos improve to 2-0.

Rachel Cockrell led the way for Manitoba in the loss, recording 26 kills while Bisons rookie Kalena Schulz recorded ten kills, six of which came off of service aces.

On the Calgary side, Kate Pexman led the Dinos in kills with 16 while Janna Ogle and Ali Woolley recorded 13 and 12 kills respectively.

Manitoba built on a small lead at the start of the first set to go up 16-9 at the technical timeout with the help of two service aces by Schulz. After the break, the Bisons kept rolling and cruised their way to a dominant 25-12 first set win.

Calgary opened up the second set with a five straight points by finding ways to deflect the Bisons' blocks out of bounds. Coach Bentley quickly called timeout to settle his team down and Manitoba surged their way to a 10-10 tie before the Dinos regained their five-point lead going into the technical timeout. Manitoba spent the rest of the set trying to catch up, but Calgary held their lead to take the second frame 25-19.

The third set proved to be a tighter contest as both teams traded points until the break, with Manitoba leading 16-15 after Jordana Milne found space for an easy kill. Manitoba came back from the break looking like the defending CIS champions they are, allowing only one point from the Dinos while they made quick work of Calgary to take the third set 25-16.

It was a similar start to the fourth set as both teams traded points back and forth once again. Neither team was able to gain any separation, which made for some late-game drama as both teams were tied at 23 apiece. Bisons hitter Cockrell recorded a kill after a Calgary block went out of bounds, but Calgary answered back with a kill of their own before taking a 25-24 lead off a Manitoba error. The Dinos then forced a fifth and final set after Calgary hitter Ogle's attack was too much for Manitoba to handle.

The Bisons will host the University of Regina Cougars next week on Friday, October 17, 2014 at 6 p.m. CT in the Investors Group Athletic Centre.

Meanwhile, the University of Calgary Dinos will host the Thompson Rivers University WolfPack at 6 p.m. MT in the Jack Simpson Gym.