PREVIEW: Huskies men’s volleyball heads to Edmonton to kick off playoffs

GAME INFORMATION

Thursday, Mar. 3. vs. UBC Thunderbirds 4:00 p.m. Edmonton, Alta.
Friday, Mar. 4 vs. Alberta Golden Bears 9:00 p.m. Edmonton, Alta.
Saturday, Mar. 5 vs. Fraser Valley Cascades 4:00 p.m. Edmonton, Alta.

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The show goes on the road.

Sean McKay and the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s volleyball team will kick off their 2021-22 postseason at Saville Community Sports Centre in Edmonton, as the University of Alberta plays host to the first-round of the Canada West playoffs.

After finishing in the third-place in the east division with a 9-9 record, the Huskies will take part in a four-team, round-robin style playoff this weekend with the two best-finishing teams advancing to the next round of the conference’s playoff format, which gets underway on Mar. 11.

The Huskies will battle the central division-winning Alberta Golden Bears, the second-place finisher in the west division in the UBC Thunderbirds, as well as the Fraser Valley Cascades—who finished fifth in the west division.

This is the third-consecutive playoff appearance for Saskatchewan, as they look to make their way back to the U SPORTS National Championship for the first-time seine 2016.

The Huskies have been led all season long by Dylan Mortensen, as the Swift Current, Sask. product finished second in the Canada West in kills with 301—only four behind Winnipeg’s Daniel Thiessen.

Mortensen was injured when Saskatchewan made their last playoff appearance. He missed out on the Huskies quarter-final against Alberta back in 2019-20, a best-of-three series the Golden Bears won with back-to-back wins. The fourth-year outside hitter will play in his first postseason game in over three years, with his last being a four-set loss to the Mount Royal Cougars on Feb. 23, 2019.

Mortensen and the Huskies are looking to rewrite the narrative this weekend, as they search for Sean McKay‘s first playoff win as the program’s head coach. Two wins this weekend would likely be enough to punch their ticket to the next round. After what was a slow start to the season, Saskatchewan won eight of their final 12 games. McKay and company are hoping that momentum will carry over to when it matters most—the postseason.

Scouting the Opposition:

• UBC enters the playoffs as winners of five of their last six, but the Huskies have won their last three meetings against the Thunderbirds. Three of the top-ten finishers in hitting-percentage in the conference suit up for UBC in Michael Dowhaniuk, Colton Liu and Cole Brandsma
• Isaac Heslinga .333 hitting percentage has helped power the Golden Bears, who enter the weekend with a 15-3 regular-season record—helping them earn the number-five spot in the U SPORTS Top Ten
• Saskatchewan will close out the weekend against Fraser Valley, who is in their first year in the Canada West. The Cascades finished 3-13 in the regulars season and are led by former Huskies coach Nathan Bennett