Courtesy of Manitoba Bisons Sports Information

After winning their first game of the season last weekend, the Bisons are back on the short end of the score after losing to the Mount Royal University Cougars 3-1 (26-28, 23-25, 25-21 and 25-18) at Investors Group Athletic Centre. 

With the loss, the Bisons fall to 1-6, while the Cougars improve to 3-4, snapping their two-game loss streak. 

Mount Royal's Alex Donaghy led both sides with 18 kills, while Jordana Milne and Haillie Bujan had 12 and 10 for Manitoba, respectively. 

It was a closely matched game from the start. Both the Bisons and Cougars brought strong attacks early in the first, but Mount Royal's offense faltered midway through the set. After a kill from Manitoba co-captain Sarah Klassen tied the game at 11, the Bisons won four straight rallies on Mount Royal attack errors. 

But the Cougars weren't done yet. The teams fought back-and-forth through the next few rallies, but the set got even closer when Manitoba's Tori Studler tied the game at 22 with a service ace. From there, neither team seemed to gain an advantage. The Bisons and Cougars tied the set four more times and took the set to extra rallies, until back-to-back kills from Donaghy gave the visitors the 28-26 win.  

Manitoba held a slight lead through most of the second set, thanks to strong attacks from Klassen and Milne. But after the Bisons broke out and entered the technical timeout up 16-10, the Cougars fought back. The visitors scored eight points in nine rallies to take an 18-17 lead. The Bisons brought back the strong offensive showing they had earlier in the set, but it wasn't enough, and the Cougars took the second 25-23. 

The Bisons had a slower start in the third. After taking a 2-0 lead, the home side gave up five straight points and trailed the Cougars until Manitoba tied the game at 13 on a Mount Royal attack error. And the Bisons didn't stop there. After entering the technical timeout up 16-15, but the Bisons never trailed for the rest of the set, eventually winning the hard-fought third 25-21 when Bujan's kill found the court. 

The tight game continued in the fourth. Neither team could earn more than a two-point lead until Mount Royal scored on six straight rallies midway through the set – including two kills from Taylor Pelland – to take a 20-14 lead. The Bisons fought back, but could only score four more of their own before the Cougars won the final set 25-18 and the game 3-1.   

The Bisons will look to break even this weekend when they take on the Cougars again on Saturday at Investors Group Centre at 4:30 p.m.