March 5 - The Manitoba Bisons did not show any after effect from the tough loss to Trinity Western in the Semi-Final as they came out and took the lead into the first official timeout. The Herd increased their small margin with strong net play and big kills from Toon van Lankvelt and led 16-14 at the second timeout. Manitoba increased their advantage to four points at 19-15 before the Dalhousie Tigers rattled off three points on a service ace and a Bisons missed kill. The Bisons called timeout at 19-18 and regained their two point lead with two strong kills from van Lankvelt. After a Dalhousie kill mistake and service error, the Bisons won the first set 25-22.

The second set, was a close affair through with Dalhousie having a slight lead at 9-6 and 13-10 before leading 16-14 at the second timeout. With two kills from van Lankvelt and a Drew Venables kill, Manitoba had a narrow 19-18 lead. Dalhousie earned a 21-19 advantage with a service ace and capitalizes on a bad Manitoba pass but the Herd responded with a Josh Klassen service ace and kill to tie the score. Klassen and van Lankvelt had kills to push ahead 24-23 and then put away the game with a Zylstra kill and van Lankvelt service ace for the second set win by a 26-24 score.

In the third set, the Tigers jumped out to a 4-1 and 7-3 advantage. Manitoba fought back with a Jeff Zylstra block and was only down 8-7. Dalhousie regained the lead at 12-10 with a stuff block but blocks by Nathan Toews and Zylstra brought the match even at 15. After some great kills and digs from both teams, the score was still tied at 23. Then the teams earned side outs with fantastic court coverage and kills from either side of the net. After a massive Zylstra block, the Tigers called a timeout at 30-29 for Manitoba. The Herd couldn't stop a Dalhousie kill and then they blocked Manitoba and won the set with a huge kill from the backcourt. After an entertaining and long set, Dalhousie won 32-30.

In the final set, the Bisons rebounded form a tough set loss and after being down 8-6, they rattled off four straight points with two Venables service aces. Dalhousie rallied with three unanswered points and van Lankvelt serve set-up an easy Klassen kill for a 16-14 lead. Manitoba took over the set with four consecutive points from a wide Dalhousie kill, a Matt Balchin kill, Klassen service ace and Dalhousie kill into the net. Manitoba now led 23-18. After a Toews kill and a couple of Tigers points, van Lankvelt ended the match with a kill down the line for a 25-21 Manitoba set victory.

With the CIS bronze medal, the Bisons have now won two of the three bronze medal matches they have played in the last three consecutive years. Overall, Bisons head coach Garth Pischke has now coached 22 medal winning teams (9 gold, 9 silver and 4 bronze) in his 25 trips to the CIS National Championships.

Manitoba’s Player of the Game: Toon van Lankvelt (22 kills, 1 service ace, 8 digs)

van Lankvelt was named to the CIS Championship All-Star team as he posted 44 kills (3.67 per game), five service aces, seven blocks, and 21 digs.

Trinity Western defeated Alberta in the Gold medal game 3-0 (25-21, 25-8, 25-16).

Complete statistics...