Bisons’ men cruise into final four at v-ball nationals

The Manitoba Bisons spiked their heartbreak from the Canada West final and served up a dominant showing to begin their quest for a national title.

Less than a week after falling to Trinity Western in the conference championship, the sixth-seeded Bisons cruised to a 3-0 (25-20, 25-16, 25-17) triumph over No. 3 Laval at the U Sports men’s volleyball championships in Windsor, Ont., on Friday.

Playing in the program’s first national championship since 2017, the emphatic rebound secured the Bisons’ place in the semifinals for the first time in 14 years, where they will face the Canada West bronze medallists, No. 7 UBC Thunderbirds, on Saturday at 5 p.m. CT.

“We’re pretty proud of what we did at the Can West Final Four, pretty proud of us for beating UBC (in the semifinals),” said Owen Weekes.

“We know we’re right up there with the top four teams and one of the best teams in the country, so we had our sights set on Laval. I think we’ve done a really good job of just taking it step by step, and then when the game’s over, flushing it and moving on to the next game. We felt pretty good about our preparation going into that game.”

In a match that featured several national award winners on the side of the Québec conference champions, Weekes shone the brightest on the court.

Named player of the game, the second-year outside hitter led the Bisons with nine kills and assisted on the match-sealing block, but it was Weekes’ six service aces that tilted the court in his team’s favour.

“The boys are always confident in me, so it’s good to be on a team where you have guys giving you that green light all the time. I just felt good. The gym is super nice… I serve in the middle, and there are no lights there, so that kind of helps; I can see the ball super well,” he said. “And I don’t know, I guess the moment kind of just hit me, and I was just feeling really good. I think I was jumping pretty good today.”

Head coach Lupo Ludwig said it was one of the strongest serving performances he’s seen from Weekes.

“One good serve after the other was outstanding today,” Ludwig said. “We know that he has it. We see it in practice often enough, but to bring it into a game, in the quarterfinal, that’s pretty cool.”

Jordon Heppner and Karil Dadash Adeh supplied eight kills each, while Eric Ogaranko and Jonah Dueck each chipped in with six. Setter Sammy Ludwig has 29 assists.

Meanwhile, Manitoba held the Rouge et Or’s big hitters at bay, as Terell Tchouassi (10 kills) was the lone attacker to reach double-digit kills. Felix Dufour and Jacob Gendron each had seven kills, while national rookie of the year finalist Félix-Antoine Perron mustered just five.

Manitoba dominated at the net, attacking at a .500 efficiency to Laval’s .230, and recording 18 assisted blocks to the Rouge et Or’s zero.

Ludwig credited his team for a well-executed game plan.

“We knew that they were pretty strong defensively and passing-wise, but I told the guys that we just (need to) focus on our strengths that we showed all season, which is a really strong serve and blocking,” said Ludwig.

“That was the game in the middle of the first set when we had three blocks in a row — this is when we put the nerves away and started to play our game. And Laval hasn’t seen that all year. We play against this every practice, we play against this every weekend against the other teams. For us, it was really focusing on our strengths, and the rest will take care of itself.”

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