MVB: Huskies Grab the CW Bronze Medal

MVB: Huskies Grab the CW Bronze Medal

3/10/2023 9:53:04 PM

SASKATOON, SK – The Saskatchewan Huskies rallied after dropping the opening set and edged the Dinos 3-1 (26-24, 20-25, 22-25, 19-25) to claim the Canada West bronze medal and the conference’s third and final berth at the U SPORTS Men’s Volleyball Championship.

“That was a very tough environment to play in and our guys showed up ready to compete,” said Dinos head coach Rod Durrant. “We have nothing to be ashamed of, they can all be proud of their effort.”

Calgary showed its resiliency early on at the Physical Activity Complex at the University of Saskatchewan. Facing set point at 24-22, the Dinos scored four consecutive points with Jackson Meier at the service line, finished off on a kill by Erik Godwin.

Early deficits proved to be the Dinos’ demise though.

“Calgary really showed up tonight and played a good game,” said Huskies head coach Sean McKay.

In both the second and fourth sets, the Huskies’ jumped out to massive leads, holding a 6-1 advantage in Set 2 and an even larger 8-1 lead in Set 4. Calgary managed to chip away at those leads, but with the home team’s top offensive threats clicking, it was never enough.

Canada West all-time kills leader Dylan Mortensen scored a game-high 24, while Quinn Buchanan and Levi Olson contributed 14 and 12 kills respectively. Buchanan added six total blocks.

Calgary held a four-point led mid-way through the third set with a chance to go ahead in the match. The Huskies flipped the script with a five-point run to make it 19-17 and then closed it out with some impressive work on the service line as Olson earned back-to-back aces late.

Liam Kuppe led the Dinos with 12 kills in his final collegiate game. Louis Kunstmann also made an impact from the outside with nine kills along with five total blocks.

“At the start of the year, the guys set the goal of making nationals, and at that point we probably weren’t favoured to do so,” said McKay. “It’s really cool for guys to set a lofty goal and accomplish it. Super proud of them.”

Saskatchewan advances to their first national championship appearance since 2016.