KELOWNA, B.C. – A hot start would not be enough for the Heat men on Friday night as they fell to the visiting Manitoba Bisons in four sets.

UBCO claimed the opening frame (25-22) and had the advantage throughout the second, including holding the advantage at (20-19). Then the Bison reeled off six of the final eight points of the set to tie the match up at a set apiece.

Manitoba controlled the final two frames, taking the third (25-14) and fourth (25-12) to close out the victory.

The Bisons improve to a game above .500 (2-1) while the Heat drop their third straight to open the conference season (0-3).

“We need to learn how to win, you saw some guys on our side who felt pretty good about winning the first set and we are okay here and you can’t do that in Canada West volleyball… The league is just too good.” commented Heat head coach Brad Hudson following the four-set loss.

Cam Vanderveen continued his hot start to the season by racking up another 14 kills along with eight digs. Max Heppell also finished in double-figures in terms of put-aways with 10.

Kevin Negus had a night for himself on Friday, he finished with a game-high 16 kills along with seven blocks and two service aces. Darian Koskie proved to be a hassle at the net all night long. The Bisons middle racked up five kills on just nine attacks along with seven blocks.

It was an efficient attack all night long for the visitors as they hit .354 in the match compared to just .102 for the Heat. This low attack percentage from the home squad was largely due to the stout block put up by the Bison, as they racked up 18.5 total blocks on the night.

Manitoba managed to hit over .300 as a team in every single set and racked up no more than three hitting errors in any of the four frames.

The Bisons (2-1) and Heat (0-3) will face off again tomorrow night in the Okanagan gym with the first serve slated for 6 p.m.

All action can be watched live on Canada West tv presented by Co-op.

~ Oliver Rizun, Heat Sports Information

[SOURCE: UBC Okanagan]