Trinity Western men bring end to Bisons’ winning streak while women upset No. 1-ranked Spartans

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This article was published 12/01/2024 (978 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Manitoba Bisons were one of hottest teams in Canada West men’s volleyball but that was before they ran into a buzz saw otherwise known as the Trinity Western Spartans Friday night.

Manitoba, winners of seven consecutive conference games, pushed back vigorously against the perennial powerhouse from Langley, B.C., but fell 3-1 (27-25, 25-21, 15-25, 25-23) at Investors Group Athletic Centre.

“I think we served a little bit too easy,” said head coach Lupo Ludwig, whose Bisons will face TWU again today at 5 p.m. “(The Spartans) were a lot in their system and a little sharper, at least in the first two sets.”

In a late women’s game, eighth-ranked Manitoba beat No. 1-ranked Trinity Western 3-1 (22-25, 25-18, 25-20, 25-22).

The Manitoba men, entered Friday’s action in a tie for second in Canada West, have not beaten Trinity Western since sweeping the visiting Spartans 3-0 on Jan. 23, 2016.

After Friday’s result, that streak reached 11 consecutive defeats.

The Spartans, who are the defending national champions and owners of four of the last six U Sports titles, were powered by 12 kills from Piers de Greef and 11 more from left side Henry Rempel. Rempel, unleashing a powerful jump spin serve, crashed four aces in a crucial second set.

TWU improved to 7-6 on the season while Manitoba fell to 10-5.

“We had a really up and down first semester,” said Trinity head coach Adam Schriemer, an MBCI grad and former all-Canadian setter at Trinity Western. “And as you saw today, they were up and down.

“The cool thing about our team is we’ve seen the high end —we’ve seen our team play at a really high level so we know we have that in us. The challenge is we’ve had some performances that have been pretty low, too.”

The Spartans play with a swagger befitting their status.

“They’re a historic program and we knew that we had a better record going in but they played really well tonight and put us in uncomfortable positions, so props to them,” said Manitoba left side Spencer Grahame, who cranked out a game-high 16 kills. “I think (Saturday) we’ve gotta change our outlook on the outside a little bit. Hit a little deeper because they really challenged us with their blocks.”

Nicoles Carter, Jordon Heppner and Kai Boyko had six kills each for the hosts.

Earlier this month, the Bisons were faced with an injury to fifth-year left side Ben Carleton. The Aussie stalwart will miss the remainder of the 2023-24 season with a broken left arm.

“He’s gone so we have to figure out a new thing,” said Ludwig. “You look at the hitting stats of the guys that replaced him and Ben would definitely been a little bit better.”

In Carleton’s absence, Ludwig is planning to bolster his lineup with the mid-season addition of 6-8 right side Karil Dadesh Adeh, a former member of the Iranian junior national team.

Dadesh Adeh, a transfer from Campbellsville University in Campbellsville, Ky., had his eligibility confirmed Thursday and is expected to make his U Sports debut when the Bisons travel to Vancouver next week for a twinbill with the UBC Thunderbirds.

“He can be very, very good,” said Ludwig. “He played on their junior national team, one year in France professional and he played last year in the States but didn’t play that much. He contacted me in September, October and since then I’ve basically been talking to him and now he’s here.

“He sent me a video and I said, ‘This guy should not be playing university volleyball,’” added Ludwig. “He’s a man.”

Surinx brings her A game

Left side Raya Surinx hammered a game-high 19 kills to lead the Manitoba women to their first victory over the Trinity Western since Feb. 16, 2016, snapping a five-game losing streak.

“The present issue is we’re both at the top of the standings, so that’s the issue of the day,” said Bisons head coach Ken Bentley. “I’m not looking back on history.”

The Bisons improved to 13-2 in conference play while the Spartans took their first regular-season loss, dropping to 12-1.

“We didn’t get rattled because we lost the first set,” said Bentley. “We missed three serves late in that first set, a little uncharacteristic for us. We’re usually pretty good about those balls and we kinda paid for it.”

Light Uchechukwu added 13 kills for the winners, while Brenna Bedosky added 11 more. Setter Katreena Bentley collected 45 assists.

The visitors were led by star middle Kaylee Plouffe, who thumped 17 kills and three service aces. Teammate Maryn Boldon added 13 kills.

“I think intense is the word you’re looking for,” said TWU head coach Ryan Hofer when asked to describe Friday’s action. “It’s two really great teams and really good volleyball programs playing great volleyball in front of a great crowd. It was a lot of fun.”

The Manitoba women take on Trinity Western again Saturday at 6:45 p.m.

Surinx said her teammates won’t play scared.

“There’s nothing really to be intimidated by as long as we do what we know we can do, it’ll all work out,” she said.

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca