Box Score The No. 3 ranked University of Manitoba Bisons defeated the University of Winnipeg Wesmen 3-0 (25-15, 25-22, 25-18) in a rare Wednesday night Canada West Men's Volleyball match at the Dr. David F. Anderson Gymnasium in Winnipeg.
Manitoba with the win improves to 10-1 in regular season play. Winnipeg with the loss falls to 4-7 in the Canada West Men's Volleyball standings.
Fifth year right side Devren Dear led Manitoba with 14 kills and a hitting percentage of .524. Fourth year left side Adam DeJonckheere added 12 kills and three blocks. Fifth year middle Ken Rooney finished with seven kills and four blocks. Evan Jackson had a strong serving match finishing with three service aces.
Fourth year outside David Bommersbach and third year middle Garrett Jones led the Wesmen with seven kills each. Brendan Thielmann and Daniel Thiessen each had five.
The opening set started out an even affair with the teams deadlocked at 6-6. A 4-0 run by Manitoba sparked by back to back kills by Devren Dear gave the Bisons a 10-6 lead. Manitoba went on another run, this time scoring five straight points to take a commanding 15-8 lead. Manitoba eventually won the opening set 25-15.
Set number two was much closer than the first. After Manitoba built a 10-7 lead, Winnipeg responded scoring five of the next eight points with kills by Bommersbach, Jones and Taylor Howe to cut the Bison lead to 13-12. Winnipeg stayed within striking distance at 22-21 until Manitoba scored three of the final four points to take the set by a 25-22 margin.
Manitoba opened up the third set scoring three straight points but Winnipeg found their rhythm and managed to stay close to Manitoba, who led by a slim 16-14 margin at the technical timeout. From that point the Bisons went on a 9-4 run to win the final set of the match 25-18.
The two cross town rivals will wrap up their respective regular season schedules Thursday night in the volleyball portion of the 26th Annual Duckworth Challenge across town at the University of Manitoba. The men hit the court at 6:00 p.m. followed by the women's match scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
The 1971-1974 Wesmen Men's Volleyball teams that entered the Manitoba Sports Hall Of Fame this fall were recognized during the match. Three members of the Championship team were present: Garth Pischke, Gary Cerylo and one of the coaches Jerry Ilchyna. Coach Illchyna presented Athletic Director Dave Crook with a signed game ball from the 1970-71 team.
