Feb. 5 - Saturday night's matchup of two CIS powerhouses-Rematch Part II of the 2004 CIS Bronze Medal match between TWU and Manitoba-was very different from the contest that took place Friday night.

Neither team was able to find their groove offensively, and the night turned into a defensive battle as the visiting Manitoba Bisons held on for the 3-2 win (19-25, 25-20, 25-17, 25-27, 15-12).

Senior Appreciation Night proved bittersweet for libero Jaben Schalk (5th yr, Red Deer, AB), who finished with eight digs and 41 service receptions, and setter Jon Rowe (4th yr, Kelowna, BC) who finished with 29 assists, two aces, four block assists, as they made their final regular season home appearance.

After dominating the first game 25-19 and recording 13 block assists to shut down the Manitoba offense, the Spartans stumbled in the second and third games as the Bisons turned up the intensity. The Spartans regrouped in the fourth set, taking an 8-7 lead into the first technical timeout. Late in the set, TWU continued to lead, extending the margin to five, 20-15, following a service ace by Doug Van Spronsen (2nd yr, middle/outside, Dawson Creek, BC).

With playoff positioning and home court advantage on the line the Bisons weren't about to go away, however, and fought back to tie it up at 23 and then take the lead on a kill by Toon van Lankvelt (25-24). Digging deep, the Spartans pulled out the win to force a fifth set on consecutive attack errors by van Lankvelt, the final one as a result of a block by Chris Meehan (4th yr, middle, Clearwater, BC) and Van Spronsen.

Riding the high of their fourth-set win, the Spartans looked to take an early advantage in the short fifth set. That plan was thwarted by a Manitoba Bison squad determined to not let the match slip away. A block by Sean Jones and van Lankvelt opened a 13-10 lead and forced a TWU timeout. The Spartans took the next two points on a Bison set error and yet another block by Meehan, along with Jeff Stel (3rd yr, outside, Langley, BC), to cut the lead to 13-12 and force a Manitoba timeout. Then, in the midst of a huge rally that had players on both sides of the net making unbelievable efforts to keep the ball in play, TWU's Van Spronsen was called for a carry on a digging effort off a Manitoba attack. Effectively ending the rally and defusing the electric atmosphere in the David Enarson Gymnasium, the Bisons then took the 14-12 lead and won the match on a Spartan attack error.

Van Spronsen finished with 18 kills to lead the Spartans, while van Lankvelt led the Bisons with a match-high 22 kills. TWU's Justin Pankratz (4th yr, middle, Mission, BC) and Manitoba's Sean Jones each had nine blocks, while four Bisons finished in double figures in digs.

Fifth ranked Manitoba will travel to winless Regina next weekend for their final matches of the regular season.

Match Notes: tonight was the Spartans' first loss since Nov. 20th against Alberta, snapping their 11-match win streak...TWU started three middles tonight (Meehan, Pankratz and Van Spronsen), with Van Spronsen sliding over to play outside hitter in place of Steve Rogalsky...TWU and Manitoba combined for 99 digs and 32.5 team blocks...while hitting 4.3% (a season low) and 15.3%, respectively...

Complete statistics...