RECAP: Heat men fall in straight sets to visiting Bisons

KELOWNA, BC – The UBC Okanagan Heat fell quickly to the Manitoba Bisons in the UBC Okanagan gymnasium Friday night. Set scores were 25-21, 25-22, and 25-23.

Statistically, the two teams were nearly identical in their performance on the night. The Bisons finished with 35 kills, 34 assists, 7 service aces, 13 serve errors, 26 digs, and 7 total blocks. In that same order, the Heat finished with 34, 34, 12, 27, and 6. The biggest difference was the consistency of hitting. The Heat finished with 20 attack errors and a hit percentage of .159, while the Bisons hit .262 and only made 14 errors.

Lars Bornemann led the Heat attack, finishing the night with 12 kills and two service aces. On the other side, Adam DeJonchkeere led the Bisons with 11 kills.

The first set went to the Bisons, 25-21. Manitoba jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead thanks to a pair of service aces from Dustin Spring, and never trailed throughout. The only tie of the set came early on, at 2-2. A five-point run for the Bisons, that included two kills from Adam Dejonckheere and another from Dustin Spring, put them up 20-12. The Heat then went on a run of their own, scoring six straight points to pull within two at 20-18, but they would not complete the comeback.

Manitoba won the second set 25-22 to go up 2-0 in the match. UBC Okanagan took their first lead of the match up 2-1 in the second set. That lead never grew larger than a point, though, and Manitoba took it back for good after going up 6-5 on a big kill by Adam Dejonckheere. Ken Rooney and Lars Bornemann each led their respective teams with four kills.

The third set finished with the closest score of the night, with the Bisons taking it 25-23. The Heat were still in it late, with a lead at 21-19. An ensuing Manitoba time-out then led to a four-point Bisons run, with all four points being given away by Heat errors. The final point of the match was scored on a serve put into the net.

The Heat and Bisons will play again tomorrow night, with first serve set for 7 PM in the UBC Okanagan gymnasium.

~ Grayson Leahy, UBC Okanagan Heat