VANCOUVER, BC – The Saskatchewan Huskies started 2023 on the road, heading to BC to battle the UBC Thunderbirds in their first game of the year. The undermanned Thunderbirds battled through four tight sets but it was the Huskies who would win the night (23-25, 25-22, 27-25, 25-19).
Dylan Mortensen racked up a match-best 18 kills for the Huskies, while Levi Olson added 12 kills and five aces in the road victory. Michael Dowhaniuk put up a team-high 16 kills and three aces, and Coltyn Liu made his season debut at libero for the Thunderbirds.
The teams traded blows in the opening set through to a 22-22 tie and were even at 23-23 after a UBC error. Saskatchewan replied with another service error to hand the Thunderbirds a set point. UBC rookie Reeve Gingera cranked a kill to take the first, 25-23.
The Huskies jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the second before UBC fought back, and a monster Gingera block brought the Thunderbirds within one at 9-8. Jesse Umoren continued the block party with two of his own and a Michael Dowhaniuk ace evened the score at 11-11. A Jack McGeough ace reestablished the tie at 20-20 and Levi Olson came through with two huge aces for Saskatchewan to end the set. The Huskies would win the second set at 25-22 and even things up going into the third.
UBC fell behind early in the third set before clawing back, as a Gingera block knotted it up at 18 points apiece. Levi Olson continued to serve up fire for the Huskies, with an ace late in the set to give the Huskies a the 20-18 lead. Jacob Rapin came up with a big block for a set point at 24-21. The Thunderbirds continued to battle and rattled off a crucial 4-0 run – capped off with a Michael Dowhaniuk kill off the block to briefly take a 25-24 lead, but the Huskies held on and captured the set 27-25.
Saskatchewan earned a five-point lead in the fourth with a Quinn Buchanan block at 21-16 and notched a match point with another ace from Levi Olson. UBC’s Reeve Gingera briefly extended the match with a kill at 24-19, but the the Huskies held steady to close out the match on the following point.
Game two of the weekend series against the UBC Thunderbirds will start Saturday at 8:45 PM. Watch the live stream on CanadaWest.TV.
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