BRANDON – The Brandon Bobcats had their four-match winning streak halted at the hands of the Manitoba Bisons on Friday night in Canada West men's volleyball action.
 
Devren Dear was just shy of a double-double with 15 kills and nine digs to lead the Herd past the Bobcats in straight sets.

The set scores were 25-16, 25-21 and 26-24.

In the first set, the eighth-ranked Bobcats put together four straight points to lead 9-6 early on. The third-ranked Bisons battled back with a 10-4 run to lead 16-13 at the technical timeout. Momentum stayed on the U-of-M's side as they won nine of the next 12 points to win the opener

BU and Manitoba went toe-to-toe in the second set with the Bisons holding a slim 16-15 advantage at the technical timeout. It was 18-18, before Manitoba went on a 7-3 run to grad a commanding lead in the contest.

The Bisons took control of the third set by grabbing an early 5-1 lead. The Bobcats countered with an 8-3 run to go up 9-8. The longtime provincial rivals traded punches until the technical timeout with the U-of-M holding a slim 16-15 advantage.

The third set continued to follow a similar script down the home stretch with the Bisons up 24-22. Brandon stood their ground and grinded out back-to-back points to tie it 24-24, but that is as close as they would get. Manitoba earned the victory in extra points en route to sweeping the match.

Evan Jackson added 10 kills for the Bisons, who boosted their record to a sparkling 16-and-1.

Roy Ching was Brandon's top scorer with 15 kills, while Elliott Viles was next with 10 kills for the Bobcats, who slipped to 11-and-6.

The Bobcats and Bisons go head-to-head in Saturday's rematch at 6:45 p.m. at the Healthy Living Centre.