Three set sweep: Bison Women’s Volleyball win national championship

Update: On March 19 from 12-1 p.m. the Bison herd is hosting a pep rally in University Centre to honour this great team.

The U of M Bison Women’s Volleyball team have won the national Canadian Interuniversity Sport championships with three set sweep (25-22, 25-22, 25-20) over defending and six-time champion UBC Thunderbirds. The match took place Sunday, March 2 at the University of Regina.

With the championship win, the Bisons have now earned their seventh CIS championship in the program’s history and first since the 2001-02 season. The other times Manitoba have won a CIS Championship: 1970-71, 1989-90, 1990-91, 1991-92, 2000-01, 2001-02.

The Bisons (regular season: 14-8 record; playoffs: 6-1) continued their dominance throughout the three day national championship event as they used their defence and passing to set-up a potent offence against a UBC team that were trying to win for an unprecedented seventh consecutive time.

With the match victory, the Bisons snapped a 18 game match streak (regular season and playoffs) against UBC that dated back to the 2007-08 season and a 10 game playoff streak against the T-Birds with the last time the Herd beat them was in the 2002 CIS championship semi-final – the last time Manitoba hoisted the CIS championship trophy.

“We passed very well and Caleigh (Dobie) played very well as our overall defence was amazing and our passing was there. We were able to attack different zones and not get UBC on a roll,” Bison women’s volleyball head coach Ken Bentley said after the championship. “It’s like the song ‘feels like the first time’ and we have been so close for some many years. It feels really good to be healthy and be able to get another shot at a CIS championship as it is so hard to win now and really proud of the whole team effort.”

In CIS Championship meetings, Manitoba have a record now of 3-2 against UBC and last met them in 2010 CIS WVB Championship final in 2010 with UBC winning 3-1.

BISON CIS WVB CHAMPIONSHIP NOTES: In 20 CIS WVB Championship appearances since 1981, Manitoba has played 59 matches and holds a 43-16 record (72.9% win percentage). The Bisons, Canada West silver medalist, won 14 out 17 matches since the start of the second half of the 2013-14 season. This is the first time Manitoba did not lose a set while winning a CIS Championship (9-0 in sets this year). Manitoba now tied with Winnipeg and Alberta for second place all-time for CIS WVB championship titles with seven, three behind UBC.