‘Relentless’ Bisons sweep Huskies to advance to volleyball semifinals

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This article was published 14/03/2025 (193 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The helpless look on Darren Russell’s face said it all.

The Saint Mary’s University head coach could only watch as his team was overpowered by a talent-laden Manitoba Bisons squad from every part of the court on Friday evening.

The No. 3 Bisons earned the first of three wins in their quest for a Canadian title as they downed the No. 6 Huskies 3-0 (25-22, 25-18, 25-17) in the U Sports national women’s volleyball championship quarterfinals at Investors Group Athletic Centre.

“They were No. 1 in the country last year. Same team, they’re relentless,” Russell said of the Bisons, who are seeking their first national championship since 2014.

“They just keep going and going and going, and the fans here are just insane. They don’t let up whatsoever.”

The Bison attack was led by two-time national Player of the Year Raya Surinx, who had 11 kills and four aces.

Andi Almonte and Light Uchechukwu supplied 10 kills each, and Brenna Bedosky chipped in with nine on a night the hosts found success above the net, hitting .276 collectively.

“I think it just shows the depth that we have in our team,” said Surinx. “Not only in the starters, but on the bench, which you didn’t get to see much of tonight, but that’s always there.”

Setter Katreena Bentley had her choice of hitters, finishing with a game-high 35 assists.

“This is the usual,” Surinx added. “Everybody’s capable of getting kills; everybody’s capable of pulling their weight. This is just Bisons volleyball.”

Bisons head coach Ken Bentley credited his team for a gritty performance. He singled out Almonte, who added 11 digs and three blocks, for embodying that playing style.

“Andi was the Player of the Game today for a reason. She did everything tonight, like, literally everything,” Bentley said. “People always sleep on her blocking… and she just was a great six-rotation player tonight, and she hit the ball at really important times in the 20s. She pulled the trigger, and that was just so important for us.

“She just represents gritty volleyball for us, and we just kind of fall in behind her.”

Huskies’ left side Emilia Mikanovich led all players with 13 kills. Brenna Golding supplied another nine for the visitors.

A tight first set saw five lead changes, and the score tied 11 times as both offences came out swinging. The Huskies hit .282 collectively, led by six kills from Mikanovich. The Bisons countered with a .362 efficiency, led by five kills from Surinx.

Both offences cooled off in the second frame and instead turned to the service line to generate pressure. The Huskies accounted for two aces in the set but were outpaced by Surinx, who had three alone. Manitoba pieced together a 5-0 run and a 12-7 lead early in the frame, courtesy of consecutive aces from Surinx, who forced Russell’s hand at a timeout in every set when she was at the line.

“Twenty-five (Surinx), her serving is just insane. She got on those runs, and it was hard to break,” Russell said.

“We were just trying to slow her down, and hopefully she would make a mistake, but she was pounding them in — three, four, five at a time. And at this level, if we give up that many runs, we dig ourselves a little hole, and then we start playing catch up.”

Credit is due to the Huskies, who put up a fight like they have all season.

Saint Mary’s won the Atlantic University Sport conference despite being dealt a steady dose of adversity this season, including nine different players missing time with concussions, one of their best players, Madison Hann, dealing with a shin injury, and assistant coach Steve Simmons suffering a stroke during a practice.

“Just so proud of the girls. They don’t let up, regardless, and we’ve been through so much this year. I’m just so proud of them. Even when we were down, they’re still swinging away and we didn’t roll over. Hats off to the girls,” Russell said.

The Bisons were too much for this resilient squad, however. They iced the match with 14 kills in the third set.

The Bisons will face the No.2 UBC Thunderbirds in Saturday’s semifinal at 6 p.m. UBC triumphed over No. 7 Saskatchewan 3-1 (25-19, 22-25, 25-19, 25-18) late Friday.

Earlier in the day, No. 5 Montreal defeated No. 4 McMaster 3-2 (25-19, 13-25, 17-25, 25-21, 17-15) and No. 1 Alberta cruised past No. 8 Memorial (St. John’s, N.L.) 3-0 (25-12, 25-11, 25-18), setting up the other semifinal at 8 p.m.

joshua.frey-sam@freepress.mb.ca