As published on gobisons.ca:
For the first time in 11 years, the Bisons women’s volleyball team are national champions. The No. 3 seeded Herd captured their eighth title in school history with a commanding 3-1 win (25-20, 25-19, 24-26, 25-16) over No. 5 seed Montreal on Saturday in front of a sold-out home crowd of over 3500.
It was a team effort all throughout. Manitoba hit .357 overall, Katreena Bentley had 47 assists, five different players had at least nine digs, four had at least five assisted blocks, and three tallied double-digit kills, led by Tournament MVP Raya Surinx’s 23.
It was fitting for a well-oiled Bisons unit whose relationships, in the case of seniors Bentley, libero Julia Arnold and left side Uchechukwu, date back well over a decade.
Ella Gray also stepped up off the bench with a massive save on serve-receive late in the third, and Chloe Ellerbrock – another multiple time Junior Bisons national champ with Arnold, Bentley and Uchechukwu, had two aces.
“I don’t know what to say. This team has just blown me away for the last three or four years. I’m so proud of this group. They’ve been such a treat to coach,” said head coach Ken Bentley, who earned his seventh national title in year 39 as bench boss.
“We stayed in this thing and did it with joy and purpose. They’re the team everyone wants to play for. I’m so proud of what they represent of our program and this university and for Bison Sports.”
Manitoba was a brick wall at the net in set one. Middle Brenna Bedosky got the party started with a stuff block to give Manitoba a 5-2 lead, and it was off to the races from there, as the Herd never trailed at any point.
Overall, the Bisons had seven total blocks, including three solos. Fellow middle Eve Catojo got in on the fun with three straight assisted blocks, and six different Bisons had at least one block in the set, while Montreal were held off the board in that category.
“Brenna in that first set, she just blocked everything. She was all over the ball,” said Bentley.
“The things we talked about, she was ahead of them and it showed. That was really though for them. They run a lot of back row attack and we really helped discourage that. We stayed in it with our blocking. Brenna was a real force in that first set and Eve, she’s our spiritual warrior. She’s been playing with a pretty bad back the last month. For her to play the way she did the last three days, she told me, coach, just wheel me out on Sunday. I’ve got to finish this up. She was just a beast.”
Surinx ended the set with an absolute rocket of a line shot from the right, recording her seventh kill of the set. She hit .462 overall while setter Katreena Bentley had 14 assists and Manitoba tallied just one attack error.
The Carabins took leads of 6-2 and 8-4 in the second set, but Manitoba willed their way back into the lead on the strength of their versatile defence.
Entering the third, five different players had at least five digs, led by libero Julia Arnold’s eight, as she withstood some monster attacks from a physical Montreal front row.
Catojo also stood in the pocket to keep a rally going with a massive back row dig on an attack from Florence Cloutier, and Surinx later put the ball away cross-court from the left for her 12th kill to give the Herd their first lead at 12-11.
It was part of a run that saw Surinx put down four straight kills, as Manitoba didn’t trail for the rest of the set.
Entering the third, the back to back Player of the Year had 13 kills and a .379 hitting percentage with just two errors, while Manitoba had just five attack errors as a team compared to 13 for Montreal.
“I just loved [Surinx’s] persistence to keep hitting under duress,” said Bentley.
“We talked about that all the time. She just kept pulling the trigger and had real good confidence. But she also served great and defended well. She was real confident today and got after it.”
An Andi Almonte roll shot gave Manitoba a 6-5 lead in set two, and they out-scored Montreal 9-4 from there, forcing a Carabins timeout. Light Uchechukwu was big during the run with three kills and an assisted block, as the Herd continued to flex their depth.
Manitoba had no errors in their first 15 points, with Bentley dishing the ball to everyone. Four different Bisons hit at least .400, but the Carabins withstood the barrage, coming back from six down.
The visitors took a 24-23 lead on an ace from Florence Cloutier, and Florence Lapointe ended the set in extras a few rallies later from the left to keep the match going. Overall, Montreal had 18 kills in the set.
Bedosky put down three blocks in a row in the fourth, and she and Catojo combined for five solos and 12 assisted, as Manitoba took a commanding seven point lead, and this time they kept the momentum.
Surinx turned it on in the latter stages of the set with three kills in a row, thanks to some great digs from Arnold and Almonte and from there, it was party city.
The Herd won the game on an error, securing their first national title in 11 years.
UM Today Staff
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