December 2 - The University of Manitoba Bisons mens volleyball squad has one more chance to end their first half on a winning note. The Bisons (4-4) fell 3-0 (17-25, 13-25, 21-25) to the top-ranked University of Alberta Golden Bears Saturday night at Investors Group Athletic Centre in the second-last game of 2006.

Manitoba went into the contest looking for a win against an excellent team, but Alberta proved its No. 1 worth and took the match with ease.

Though the two teams started the first set in a relative point-for-point pattern, but Alberta regrouped first to take the second half of the set easily. Thomas Jarmoc, Joel Schmuland and Derek Proudfoot were solid both offensively and defensively at the net and found all the holes in the Bison defence for the eight-point set victory.

The Bears’ offensive attack continued quite handily in the second set and the visitors held a steady lead at both technical timeouts. Manitoba’s blocking was not at its finest and combined with service errors to prove fatal in the set. Alberta’s Tim Gourlay swung hard through the set and hammered a hard kill down the Bisons right side to end the second 25-13.

Manitoba went into the third with more discipline and held the Bears to within a handful of points at all times, but no matter of lineup changes could help the Bisons in the end. Despite achieving its highest score of the night, the home team could not hold Alberta within reach and lost the final set on a tough tip.

Toon van Lankvelt led the ‘Zoons with 11 kills, with Jeff Zylstra and Josh Klassen close behind with eight and five, respectively. Zylstra and Matt Balchin led the team in blocks with four each and Spencer Hoehn topped the dig chart with six on the evening.

Joel Schmuland and Thomas Jarmoc led the Bears in kills with 12 and 11, respectively.

The two teams hold the rematch Sunday night at 7 p.m. CT at Investors Group.

Complete statistics...