WINNIPEG – Emmett Graham recorded 12 kills over the last two sets, tallying 23 overall and Noah Opseth finished with 50 assists as the Saskatchewan Huskies came back from 2-1 down to beat Manitoba in five (25-21, 23-25, 20-25, 25-17, 15-10) on Friday night at IGAC.
The win improves the Huskies’ record to 16-7 while Manitoba fell to 12-11, getting a career high 21 kills from Karil Dadesh Adeh in the loss. With Thompson Rivers’ loss, Manitoba can still secure the eighth and final playoff spot with a win in the tomorrow’s rematch at 5 pm.
Eleven different players recorded at least a point in a back and forth first set. The Huskies led 14-12, but a blood timeout to Graham drastically shifted momentum.
Sask came out of the timeout with energy, increasing their lead up to five. The nation’s assists leader Opseth had 13, with Jack McGeough and Graham combining for eight kills. Isaiah Mamer added two, including a powerful pipe attack.
Manitoba’s service pressure led to two aces, one each from Spencer Grahame and Jordon Heppner, while Dadesh Adeh led the Herd with three kills, but Opseth’s passing and a .310 hitting percentage did the trick, compared to a -.038 hitting percentage for the Bisons as the visitors won by four.
The Bisons led 7-3 early and 24-19 late in the second, but the Huskies kept battling. The two teams combined for ten blocks after two, with Manitoba finishing off a tight set with a 25-23 win.
Despite the brick wall from both sides, Manitoba setter Sammy Ludwig distributed the ball well, tallying 15 assists. Dadesh Adeh smashed eight kills along with five from Eric Ogaranko.
Dadesh Adeh commanded the attention, with Ludwig frequenly finding him in one on one situations for line shots. But it was Ogaranko who shined.
The outside hitter flashed his versatility, nailing a cross court roll shot to make it 22-17, adding another roll shot, this time into the middle of the pot to make it 23-19.
A solo block by McGeough on Dadesh Adeh made it 25-24, as the Huskies scored four points in a row with Joshua Thorson at the service line, but Ludwig went right back to Dadesh Adeh to end the set with a line shot in a one-on-one matchup.
Manitoba led by four for most of the third, aided by six early Huskies errors, forcing a timeout with the score 17-12 Bisons.
A Grahame ace, his second of the evening and fifth of the game for Manitoba made it 18-12 Manitoba, but the Huskies clawed back, shortening the host’s lead to 19-16 following a Graham line shot, and an assisted block right after.
But Manitoba’s service pressure and the physicality of Dadesh Adeh proved to be too much. The right side blasted his 14th kill on a line shot from the right and the Bisons ended the set with a Heppner kill following an aggressive serve from Dadesh Adeh.
Manitoba led 14-10 in the fourth, including assists from Ludwig to Ogaranko, Grahame and Dadesh Adeh, forcing a Sask timeout. The visitors answered with a vengeance afterwards, going on an 11-1 run to take complete control, winning by eight.
Graham, and the Huskies’ overall play on the outside – led by the passing and vision of Opseth – was the key. Graham had seven kills overall, including four during the run as the hosts took the game to five.
“They took the timeout at 14-10, and that’s when momentum changed,” said Bisons head coach Arnd ‘Lupo’ Ludwig.
“They went on that run, and we couldn’t rebound.”
Another Huskies run in the fifth handed them the game. With the score 8-7, the visitors went on a four-point run, including a Jacob Baird kill. Dadesh Adeh recorded three more kills, but it wasn’t enough, as Graham finished the match with a smash from the left off hands.
“We didn’t have a good middle connection today,” added Ludwig. “Usually our game is the middle. We didn’t have a lot there. We can’t stop playing at 14-10 in the third. In the fourth set we were a little shaky. In set two and three we played really well.”
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