SASKATOON, Sask. – In what was a back-and-forth affair on the Ron & Jane Graham Centre Court at the Physical Activity Complex on Friday night (Nov. 22), the Saskatchewan Huskies fell to the visiting University of Manitoba Bisons by a final score of three sets to two in game one of their weekend series.
Manitoba took sets one, three and five 25-23, 25-23 and 16-14, whereas Saskatchewan managed to nab sets two and four 25-21 and 25-20.
The Canada West rivals traded blows all game long with neither team ever able to fully take command and run away with the match. The longest run for either side came early in the second set, which saw the Huskies earn five straight points, resulting in a 10-5 lead at the time.
Statistically, Saskatchewan and Manitoba finished the game nearly identical in total kills, with the Bisons narrowly outpacing the Huskies 35-32. However, the Dogs were more efficient with their attack, totaling a .326 hit percentage to the Bisons .264
From the service line, Manitoba was able to earn six aces to only two for Saskatchewan, with the Bisons being led by Karil Dadash Adeh who notched three. This was perhaps unsurprising as the 6-foot-8 Iranian product is the current Canada West leader in aces per set with 0.77.
Despite ultimately ending up on the wrong side of the win column, the Huskies showed tremendous tenacity at the net as the Dogs were able to earn a total of eight blocks on the evening. Specifically, Lucas Musschoot and Isaiah Mamer made their presence felt all game long as the two former Team Canada representatives blocked four and three Bison kill attempts, respectively.
Saskatchewan’s defensive effort was made all the more impressive by the fact that the Huskies held Adeh, who also leads the Bisons in kills, to a mere .167 hit percentage on 42 total attempts.
Offensively for the Dogs, Mamer led the pack in kills with a total of 22, earning a respectable .571 hit percentage on 35 attempts. The Education-Kinesiology student now leads the Huskies in total kills on the season with 97.
Also contributing to the Huskies offense was Jefferson Morrow and Jacob Baird, who finished with nine and eight kills respectively over five sets of play.
Mamer, Morrow and Baird’s offensive production was encouraging to see considering the Dogs were without veteran hitter Emmett Graham, who was absent from the contest due to injury.
The final result drops the Huskies’ record to 3-4 and for the Bisons the victory pushes their record to 4-5. The provincial neighbours currently sit back to back in the Canada West standings with Saskatchewan in 6th and Manitoba in 7th.
The two teams return to action Saturday afternoon with the first serve set for 3:00 PM CST.
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