CALGARY – Veteran poise and experience got the best of youth as the sixth-ranked Manitoba Bisons escaped from the Jack Simpson Gym Friday night with a tight 3-1 win (26-24, 25-23, 21-25, 29-27) win over the No. 5 Calgary Dinos.

BOX SCORE

Three of the four sets were decided by the minimum two points including an epic, nail-biting 29-27 score in the fourth as both teams were plagued by errors and neither performed particularly well offensively, but in the end it was the Bisons that were able to mitigate those errors to come out on top of all three of those tight sets.

“Manitoba is a really good and veteran team, and they were just a little bit more consistent offensively than us,” said Calgary head coach Jesse Knight. “(Laura) Spence had 17 kills, but I still don't think she played her best, I think she could have had 25. With some determination and another defensive performance like we had tonight, we'll definitely have a shot tomorrow.”

After the Bisons took the opening set 26-24, Calgary jumped out to as much as a six-point lead early in the second at 10-4. Manitoba quickly ate into that lead, however, and eventually tied it up at 16-16 on a kill by Ashley Voth. The Bisons would add five straight points after that to take a 21-16 lead, completing the 11-point swing in the set, and held on for a 25-23 win to take a 2-0 stranglehold on the match.

“We're a young team and that showed in that run, but beyond that point there was no more of that,” said Knight. “I don't look at that second set as a turning point but more as growing pains because we fought back in the next set.”

Fight back the Dinos did. On the back of fifth-year middle Laura Spence, who had five kills in the set, Calgary clawed back into it with a 25-21 win, breaking away from a 17-17 tie to earn the most lopsided set of the evening by all of four points.

Calgary trailed by as much as four in the fourth set early but fought back to tie only to fall back down, eventually facing match point at 24-21. Spence rose to the occasion again, sparking a Calgary rally with a kill followed by a block to bring the Dinos within one at 24-23.

After fighting off five Bisons match points, the Dinos got a set point of their own but Kate Wasyliw put down one of her eight kills on the night to keep the visitors alive in the fourth. The match ended on consecutive attack errors by the Dinos, with Laura Littlejohn's attempt hitting the block of Tricia Mayba to end it 29-27 in favour of the Bisons.

Blocking was a storyline all night as Manitoba out-blocked Calgary by a 14-8 margin, led by Mayba who was in on seven of those.

Sarah Morrissette led the way for Manitoba with 14 kills and also played well defensively, adding 10 digs. Ashley Voth led with 12 digs and matched the 10-kill night of Kristi Hunter. As a team, the Bisons hit at a .182 efficiency.

Spence was 36 attempts for the Dinos, connecting on 17 of them to lead all players on the night. Raynell Lavertu had 11 kills mitigated by 10 errors, while Lindsey Doland had nine errors against 10 kills as the Dinos saw a net result of just six points on the night from their three starting outside hitters.

Calgary (2-3) gets another crack at the 3-2 Bisons Saturday night to close the weekend, with first serve at 6 p.m. MT.

-UC-