SASKATOON, Sask. – For the second consecutive night, it took five sets to determine a winner between the Saskatchewan Huskies and Manitoba Bisons at the Ron & Jane Graham Centre Court on Saturday afternoon (Nov. 23). This time it was the Huskies who prevailed to take the marathon affair, winning three sets to two (25-23, 22-25, 25-22, 18-25, 15-12).
For the Huskies, the win improves their record to .500 at 4-4 and for the Bisons they fall to 4-6. The two teams remain back-to-back in the Canada West standings at sixth and seventh with Mantioba currently possessing the higher seed over the first five weeks of the regular season.
In the first set, the Huskies started off slow, quickly falling behind 8-2 to the Bisons, but after an early timeout, the Dogs found their rhythm and rallied back to tie the set at 10-10. Jefferson Morrow helped spark the comeback with back-to-back kills midway through the frame, while Jesse Lee executed the set-winning kill on his first attack of the game after coming off the bench for an injured Lucas Musschoot.
The second set saw another sluggish start for the Huskies, and the Bisons capitalized, building a 12-6 lead. But Saskatchewan responded with a four-point run, forcing a Manitoba timeout at 12-10. However, despite the rally, the Huskies could not overcome the Bisons’ best attacking set of the match, hitting at an efficiency of .517 and led by Manitoba’s top two hitters in Spencer Grahame and Karil Dadash Adeh, who had twenty and sixteen kills apiece, leading all hitters over the five set match.
In a pivotal third set, the Huskies stepped up their defense, with Jacob Baird leading the charge with back-to-back blocks early. Hailing from Daisy Hill, Australia, the 6-foot-10 Arts & Science student shined defensively at the net, leading all players on the night in blocks with six assisted and two solo.
Net-front defense was perhaps the biggest key to victory for Saskatchewan as the Dogs drew much of their momentum from their defense and out-blocked Manitoba 23-19 over the course of the afternoon.
Manitoba came out strong in the fourth set, as Alex Witt rattled off three straight aces to put the Bisons up 12-8 and ultimately help the Herd force set number five. Manitoba continued their strong serving from last night as the Bisons doubled-up the Dogs on aces 10-5.
With everything on the line, both teams traded blows in a thrilling fifth set. The Huskies got key blocks from their defense, while Isaiah Mamer and Joshua Thorson delivered clutch kills late. The game’s defining moment came when Mathieu Mathot delivered a game-winning block to deny the left-handed swing of Adeh, sealing the set 15-12 and the match 3-2 for the Huskies.
It was fitting that Mamer, Thorson and Mathot helped secure the win for the Dogs as the trio combined for much of the Huskies’ offensive attack, totaling fourteen, twelve and eight kills, respectively.
It was a gritty, emotional win for the Huskies, who showed resilience and teamwork to come back from early setbacks and ultimately take the match in five sets to earn the weekend split against the Bisons.
Saskatchewan will look to maintain momentum as the Dogs continue their home stand next weekend (Nov. 29 & 30) versus the Thompson Rivers Wolfpack. The Bisons meanwhile, return to Winnipeg and will host the Trinity Western Spartans.