WINNIPEG – There was a dramatic, tense, exhilarating display of top-class volleyball on the University of Manitoba campus Saturday night, as the Bisons rode their home-crowd advantage to a narrow 3-1 victory (21-25, 25-23, 32-30, 26-24) over the two-time defending national champion UBC Thunderbirds in the U SPORTS Semifinals.
There was very little to separate the two sides who have become very familiar with each other over the last few seasons. The Manitoba outfit managed to exact their revenge from the 2023 U SPORTS Semifinals, when that year it was the T-Birds who won in their own gym to advance to the gold medal match.
Now, it's the Bisons' turn to fight for gold, as they were led in this battle by U SPORTS Player of the Year Raya Surinx who tallied 25 kills, 10 digs and five blocks in a fantastic performance. Andi Almonte provided support with an efficient 11 kills and 12 digs.
For the Thunderbirds, Lucy Borowski recorded 17 kills, 14 digs and three blocks, while Akash Grewal put up 16 kills, 12 digs and four aces. Olivia Furlan was named the UBC Player of the Game, as the libero notched 17 digs and four assists while marshalling the T-Birds' backline defence.
The opening set was a display of unadulterated attacking power, as both teams hit over .410 and combined for 33 kills. All six of UBC's non-libero starters combined for multiple kills, including setter Issy Robertshaw who had two along with 13 assists.
The T-Birds led by as much as seven in the middle portion of the set, before a Bisons push made things a little more interesting late on. They could never completely close the gap, however, and Emelie Silovs capitalized on a free ball over the middle of the net to take set point.
The second set started off more even, as the two teams traded points back and forth until the Bisons reeled off a mini-run to take a 9-6 lead. This frame featured more digs and battles at the net, including a pair of blocks in quick succession from the duo of Robertshaw and Jocelyn Lenarcic that helped the T-Birds go up 18-16.
From there Manitoba regained momentum, retaking the lead at 23-21. Borowski then landed a kill to make it just a one-point advantage, before the set ended somewhat anticlimactically at 25-23 for the Bisons following two straight service errors, one from each side.
Both teams had exactly 15 kills and four attack errors in the second, and that level of even play continued into the third, which found itself balanced on a knife's edge for what felt like an eternity.
After the Bisons led by three or four points fairly consistently in the middle portion of the set, the T-Birds found their way back with a series of kills as well as a clutch ace from Grewal that helped tie the score at 24.
From there, the Thunderbirds fended off a series of Manitoba set points, and were unable to convert on one of their own, before Surinx finally broke the deadlock with a kill at 32-30.
Things didn't get any easier after that marathon. UBC came out strong in the fourth with a 6-3 start capped by a Lenarcic ace. Another ace, this time by Trinity Solecki, followed by a kill from Emma Doyon put the Thunderbirds up 10-5, but the Bisons then went on a 9-4 run to tie the score at 14 apiece.
Manitoba eventually went up 20-17, but again the valiant T-Birds fought back with four points in a row as Solecki served another ace to take the lead. After Grewal tied the score at 24 with a kill, the Bisons managed to squeak out the win with two more points including a big double block on the final play of the night.
The Thunderbirds will face a familiar opponent when they play for bronze on Sunday, as they square up against the Alberta Pandas for the fourth time in the last six weeks. The T-Birds will be looking for revenge after the Pandas beat them for Canada West gold in Edmonton a week ago.
