Sports psychologist motto remedy for the Bisons

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This article was published 19/01/2026 (268 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There was something about an ugly win that was so beautiful to Lupo Ludwig.

The Manitoba Bisons head coach and his group were frustrated as they entered the holiday break following a disappointing weekend sweep on the road at the hands of Thompson Rivers. A pair of defeats pushed the program to a 4-6 record at the midway point in the campaign — far from out of it, but far from what they had expected.

“I think that TRU weekend, that was off a little bit, and it stings because it really took seven weeks almost to show that we can do better,” said Ludwig.

Since then, the Bisons have done just that, rattling off four wins in a row to begin the second half of the campaign. Perhaps more encouraging to Ludwig than the results themselves have been how his team looked while sweeping Mount Royal earlier this month and Saskatchewan last weekend — a pair of programs in the thick of the Canada West playoff race.

“We definitely played better in both of these weekends against Mount Royal and Saskatchewan, and what I really liked is that we didn’t get rattled by some bad runs that the other teams had,” he said.

After forcing a fifth set against the Huskies on Saturday, the Bisons found themselves in a 9-5 hole in the deciding set but proceeded to go on a 10-1 run to close out the match and secure the weekend sweep.

It was far from pretty, but the resilient triumph had proven something to Ludwig.

It was a result that this group had failed to grind out in other instances, dating back to last season. In their final match of 2025, the Bisons were up two sets to one and held a 20-17 lead in the fourth frame before Thompson Rivers stormed back to win in a marathon.

Since then, it’s been the Bisons who have demonstrated that they possess some grit.

“What we didn’t have these last one and a half years were these really ugly wins, where you don’t really play your best but you really push through and fight through, and I think especially against MRU we did that really well,” Ludwig said.

“Thompson Rivers should have been an ugly win, but it wasn’t. This is also something that as a coach, it’s always good to know that even if you don’t play your best, but you push through and you fight through and you work your butts off — like we did in these two matches (against Saskatchewan) — we still can win, and think that’s something the boys also notice, so that gives us a lot of confidence.”

The Bisons, with the help of a sports psychologist, have been working on their emotional stability since the summer. While the weekend series against Thompson Rivers did not exemplify that work, both players and coaches feel it’s paid dividends.

Manitoba started the season 0-4 after a pair of weekend sweeps at the hands of the University of British Columbia-Okanagan and UBC — the top two programs in the conference — but have responded by winning eight of 10 since.

“A motto that our sports psychologist and Lupo have been using is, ‘Calm in the chaos,’ and I think we’ve been able to find that,” said fifth-year outside hitter Spencer Grahame. “Just getting those ugly points, and then ugly points contribute to ugly wins. I think that’s absolutely on point.”

A short team trip to Montreal after Christmas helped the Bisons get away from their thoughts, as they faced the Montreal Carabins in a pair of exhibition matches. It was also an opportunity to get away and bond together. Most importantly, it allowed them to flip the page to the second half of the season.

“They’re a really good team, so that was great for us,” said fourth-year libero Josh Jehle. “I think after that, Thompson Rivers was so far away that we weren’t thinking about it at all, and we kind of had a new mindset coming into the second half, just moving forward and what happened, happened, but that doesn’t define our path in the future.”

Their recent stretch of resiliency is something they can carry with them into the future, though.

The Bisons’ closing regular-season schedule: a tough test sandwiched by a pair of favourable opponents.

Manitoba will head on the road to face the winless MacEwan Griffins (0-14) this weekend, before a home-and-home against the cross-town rival Winnipeg Wesmen — who are also 8-6 — at the end of the month, followed by a final road trip against Fraser Valley (0-12), which currently occupies last place in the Canada West conference.

With the hardest part of their schedule done, it’s an opportunity to get hot leading into the playoffs. Their hopes of hosting a playoff series are still very much alive.

“Absolutely, it’s an opportunity,” said Graham. “We see the record, and we see the teams that are in front of us and, given that opportunity, take one game at a time, and each set at a time and see what the film comes out each week. That’s been our motto all year, and that’s what we’re gonna do.”

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