Bisons volleyball standout Surinks suffers sprained ankle – Winnipeg Free Press

The University of Manitoba's road to the U Sports Women's Volleyball Championship was much more difficult.

The third-ranked Bisons lost 3-2 (18-25, 25-21, 25-27, 25-22, 15-13) in the seventh on Saturday when star left fielder Raya Surinks sprained her right ankle. Ranking of the Alberta Pandas in Edmonton.

Surinks, considered a front-runner for national player of the year honors, is expected to miss this weekend's Canada West season series with the Saskatchewan Huskies at the Investors Group Athletic Center Friday-Saturday. The doubleheader ends the regular season for both teams.

“Our best case scenario is he gets back to the playoffs, but it's too early to tell,” Bisons head coach Ken Bentley said Monday. “We'll see how he responds to treatment.”

Manitoba and Alberta were tied 24-24 in the third set on Saturday when Surinks went down awkwardly after a block and was injured. X-rays confirmed that there was no fracture.

In Surinx's absence, the Bison swept the weekend series after defeating Alberta 3-1 on Friday.

“We were in a tough situation and it would have been a very sweet win,” Bentley said. “I changed the whole line-up because our (usual) line-up is not normal. We had to go back to the standard lineup and everybody had to do different things and we did that – we hung in there like champs and played great. I'm proud of my efforts.”

Through 22 matches, Surinx leads the conference and nation in kills (388) and kills per set (4.85). He is also third in Canada West in assists per set (.50).

Manitoba, now 18-4 and tied with Trinity Western for the third-best record in the conference, is currently in the fourth playoff berth based on the Spartans' 55-52 mark.

The top four teams in the conference will host a quarterfinal playoff series at home. Two wins over 8-14 Saskatchewan this weekend would allow Manitoba to hold off 17-5 Alberta and secure fourth place.

And the Spartans will play the Calgary Dinos in their regular season finale. The No. 1 UBC Thunderbirds at 20-2 and No. 6 University of the Cascades of the Fraser Valley at 19-3 could finish first and second.

“We've got to win this weekend and then obviously we'll be in a good position for the playoffs – the chance to stay at home, and then that keeps Raya at home and he can continue therapy until 11 o'clock.” Bentley. “We'll see how that goes.”

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