SASKATOON – It was a back-and-forth match between the Saskatchewan Huskie and Winnipeg Wesmen’s men’s volleyball programs as both teams went tit-for-tat on Saturday evening. Ultimately, it was the Wesmen (8-6) that prevailed over the host Huskies (7-7) in four sets (25-14, 22-25, 20-25, 25-27).
Huskie freshmen Skyler Varga started the game in style recording four straight points with two aces in the first set. The Huskies were dominant in the first – racing to three straight points before hitting the technical timeout with a 16-12 lead. From there, the Huskies were able to limit the Wesmen to just two more points in the set, finishing off 25-14.
From there, the Wesmen were able to find their way into the game via a tightly contested second set. Winnipeg’s Daniel Thiessen ended the set 22-25 with a kill. Thiessen finished the night with a game-high 20 kills – double that of the Huskies leading attacker Dylan Mortensen (10). Mortensen ended the game with game-highs in blocks (4) and digs (9 – tied with Matt Klysh and Darian Picklyk).
Winnipeg started the third set with four straight points before the Huskies were able to get on the board. The Wesmen ended up taking the third set 20-25 off a Paxton Koop kill.
The fourth set was a back-and-forth affair as both teams traded blows. Despite extending the game past 25 points, it was Daniel Thiessen that was finally able to put the game to rest in the fourth set 25-27 with a game-ending kill.
The Huskies will be back next weekend when they take on the Manitoba Bisons in Winnipeg before returning home on February 25 and 26 in a rematch against the Wesmen. The Wesmen will face the Brandon Bobcats in a home-and-home next weekend. You can catch all the action on Canada West TV presented by Co-op.