SASKATOON – It was a dominant showing from the visiting University of Manitoba Bisons as they used an impressive start to the night to good effect in a 3-0 (25-16, 25-8, 25-22) victory over the Saskatchewan Huskies inside the PAC on Friday, Jan. 18.
The Bisons held an advantage in the majority of the statistical categories at the end of the night and perhaps most importantly, finished on .276 per cent of their attacks as a team, while holding Saskatchewan to a hitting percentage of .061.
Laura Findlay and Josie Abbott led the Bisons attack with 11 and 10 kills respectively. Second-year setter Kelsey Jordan had a game-high 34 assists while Cassie Bujan continued to build on her conference lead in digs with 18 in the match.
Emily Koshinsky and
Taylor Annala were the top hitters for Saskatchewan, recording 13 of the team's 24 kills in the match. Rookie
Averie Allard finished with 14 assists and 10 digs in the game.
The win moves Manitoba to 9-8 on the year where they sit fifth overall in the conference. For the Huskies meanwhile, a loss drops them to 6-11, good enough for tenth place where they are currently just four points outside of the playoffs.
Manitoba came out of the gates on fire and after taking the lead at 7-6, controlled the rest of the set for the nine-point win. Abbott and Findlay both put up four kills in the opening frame and Abbott also tallied the last three points of the set, including a clinching block.
The second set was more of the same as the Bisons took the lead at 3-2 and then ripped off a 22-8 run to finish the set with the dominant victory. As a team the Bisons hit .378 in the second set.
The third frame was by far the strongest of the night for the Huskies, who were led by three kills each from
Mandi Fraser and
Olivia Mattern. It ended up being a case of too little too late however as Manitoba was able to hold on for the 25-22 victory.
These same two teams will be back in action tomorrow night, with the second game of their weekend set scheduled to get underway at 6 p.m. inside the PAC.
