Bisons rally to knock off Heat in Game 1 of Canada West Quarter-finals

Recap by UBCO Sports Information 

KELOWNA, B.C. – The U SPORTS No. 8-ranked Manitoba Bisons overcame an 0-2 deficit and a packed UBCO Gymnasium to win Game 1 of their best-of-three quarter-final series in five sets (21-25, 17-25, 25-15, 25-22, 15-11) over the No. 4-ranked UBCO Heat.  

The Bisons took advantage of a strong blocking performance at the net, posting 18 to the Heat's nine, while outhitting the Heat 0.277 to 0.205, to come away with the victory.

"I think we didn't enjoy the game really in the first two sets," commented Manitoba head coach Arnd Ludwig after the game. "We were too tight. We were not really free to play. UBCO did a great job, putting a lot of pressure on us with their serves. I think after the second set we decided we have to show what we can do." 

Owen Weeks shone for Manitoba, finishing with a team-high 19 points thanks to 15 kills, four blocks, two aces and eight digs. Karil Dadesh Adeh and Eric Ogaranko each chipped in with 12 kills while Jordon Heppner had 12 total blocks, including three solo.

For the Heat, who were hosting their first playoff game since joining Canada West back in 2011-12, Kelowna native Thys Weststrate was the story of the night with a game-high 19.5 points off 16 kills and four blocks. Seba Manuel added 14 kills while Lucas Woelder contributed 12 and setter Zach van Geel finished the night with a game-high 44 assists.

With a crowd of 1234 fans at their backs, the Heat got off to a hot start, jumping to a 4-0 lead through a Manuel ace and kill. Manitoba would claw their way back into the match with an 8-2 run of their own thanks to the strong play of Weeks, evening the score at 14.

Xander Van Driel would push the Heat back ahead, thanks to a pair of kills and an ace and UBCO would cruise from there, eventually claiming the first off a big swing from Woelders.

The second set started out with the team's trading points. Woelders and Manuel both found the floor twice while Weeks continued to be a force for the Bisons with three. But the Heat were just a bit sharper in their passing game than the Bisons and they forced Manitoba into the first timeout at 12-7 for UBCO.

After a massive stuff block from Weststrate and van Geel, the Bisons subbed in West Kelowna native Alex Witt to try and steady their attack. The change did little to slow down the Heat and they would win the second on Manitoba's ninth service error of the match up to that point.

Trailing 2-0, the Bisons extended the match with a great third set. With the teams tied at six, Manitoba took over with a 7-1 run highlighted by a pair of kills from Dadesh Adeh. UBCO looked to swing the momentum with a big Woelders kill followed by a Manuel solo block but the Bisons block and service pressure proved to be too much for the Heat. Manitoba would claim the frame off a Heat attack error to send Game 1 to a fourth set.

"It was very important [that we got back to our serving game]," said Arnd of the swing in momentum. "We also missed a lot of serves in the first two sets. I think we had one ace and nine errors, and this is not our game. We took a little bit of risk off the serves, got the serves in, got to the places where we wanted them to be, and then we started our block defence game as well."

The fourth centered around Bisons' big swinger Dadesh Adeh. After getting into it with the boisterous Heat crowd early, UBCO took advantage and pushed ahead through a pair of Weststrate kills to take a 14-12 lead. However, after a timeout, Manitoba calmed things down and used an 8-3 run to gain control of the set. The Heat would get the lead down to one before Dadesh Adeh produced back-to-back aces, pushing their lead to 24-20 and they would close out the set two points later to send it to a fifth.

Manitoba carried their momentum into the fifth and used a big 8-0 run to blow open the match, with the Bisons block leading the way. UBCO would pull the match back to within striking distance after a party ball kill from Weststrate cut the Manitoba lead to 12-10. But the Bisons held their nerve and completed the comeback off a block from Heppner and Ogaranko. 

"We had our opportunities tonight," said Heat head coach Scott Koskie after the match. "There's some things that we're very happy with, there's some things that we need to do better. And, you know, that's what we've been able to do throughout the whole season. If we have another big crowd tomorrow, we'll see what we can do."

Game 2 of the series will get underway on Saturday, February 28 at 6:30 p.m. Tickets to the game can be purchased by visiting GoHeat.ca/Tickets. Fans can also catch the action live on Canada West TV - Presented by BioSteel.