Huskies advance in postseason with win over Cascades

EDMONTON – The Saskatchewan Huskies were firing on all cylinders on Saturday afternoon at the Saville Community Sport Centre, topping the University of the Fraser Valley Cascades in Canada West men’s volleyball playoff action.

The Huskies were exceedingly efficient offensively, hitting .431 as a team en route to a 25-19, 25-18, 25-20 triumph.

The win moves Saskatchewan (2-1 in Pool B round-robin play) to the verge of qualifying for the second round of the Canada West playoffs, pending the outcome of tonight’s Pool B finale between the UBC Thunderbirds (1-1) and the host Alberta Golden Bears (2-0). Anything other than a three-set UBC win would send the Huskies on to the next round.

The Cascades, meanwhile, see their inaugural Canada West season come to a close after posting an 0-3 record in Edmonton.

In the first set, back-to-back kills from Caleb Kastelein gave UFV a 14-12 lead, but the Huskies reeled off four straight points behind some tough serving from Dylan Mortensen to take a 16-14 advantage at the technical timeout. Saskatchewan pulled away from there, with Levi Olson and Luke Wandzura notching two kills apiece down the stretch.

UFV raced out to a 7-3 lead in the second, with Eduardo Ferreira notching a pair of kills and excelling from the service line. Mortensen once again swung the momentum his team’s way, though – he sided out with a kill, then served for six straight points to stake the Huskies to a 10-7 lead. Sask would build a 16-10 lead at the technical timeout, and they cruised the rest of the way, taking it 25-18.

In the third set, Sask hit a scorching .500 as a team. They led 16-14 at the technical timeout and were able to steadily pull away from there, with Nathan Seidel closing out the match with a kill.

Olson paced the Huskies with 11 kills, Mortensen registered nine, and Skyler Varga had seven. Matthew Primrose had a team-best seven digs, and Jake Rapin racked up 35 assists.

UFV’s star outside hitter Nimo Benne was sidelined due to injury. In his absence, Ferreira, Kastelein and Ryan Adams notched five kills apiece, Tyson Ardell had four kills and hit .364, and setter Jonas Van Huizen had 19 assists.