WINNIPEG, MB – In the regular season finale, it was the Saskatchewan Huskies taking on the Winnipeg Wesmen in their final tune up before the Canada West playoff season. Saskatchewan would complete the weekend sweep of the Wesmen with a 3-1 win (22-25, 25-22, 25-23, 25-17).
Heading into Saturday evening, Dylan Mortensen was just nine kills and 26 points away from being the Canada West all-time leader in those categories.
The first set saw the Huskies jump out to a 10-6 lead before the Wesmen would take six of seven to go up 12-11. Saskatchewan would fight back to tie it at 15, and the set would go back and forth until Winnipeg would gain the two-point advantage at 21-19. The Wesmen would hold strong and close it out, taking the first set 25-22. Both teams struggled attacking, with the Huskies’ hitting .156% compared to the Winnipeg’s .182%. Saskatchewan had five service errors in the set and were held without an ace.
The second set was back and forth with the teams playing very evenly. The Huskies picked up the first three-point lead of the set at 19-16, forcing a Wesmen timeout. Saskatchewan would hold on to take the set 25-22 to tie the game up at one. Levi Olson led the charge for the Huskies with nine kills in the set.
Mortensen only needed one kill in the third set to etch his name in the record books, and one home at the start of the set to take his career total to 1,483 kills, passing MRU’s Tyler Schmidt who set the record in 2019. Huskie Head Coach Sean McKay called a timeout as the “Morty” chants broke out from the Huskies faithful. When the game resumed, Saskatchewan seemed to find their energy, going up 4-1. It wouldn’t be long before Winnipeg was right back in it tied up at eight. The Wesmen would go up 19-17 but a Huskies timeout would lead to three straight points that led to a 25-23 set win for Saskatchewan.
The fourth set was also evenly matched to start, with both teams trading points to a tie at 10-10. The Huskies went on a four point run, with a Mortensen kill and Jack McGeough with three blocks to lead 14-10. The Huskies would continue to build on their lead going up 19-12 before a second Wesmen timeout. The momentum was in Saskatchewan’s hands as they continued to a 25-17 set win. Mortensen would also break the Canada West Career Points record with 1749.5 career points.
Saskatchewan will look to clean up their serving heading into the playoffs, as they had 18 service errors on the night.
KEY PERFORMANCES Levi Olson had an incredible game to round out the regular season, finishing with 18 kills. Mortensen was not far behind, grabbing 17 kills in his record breaking evening. Jake Rapin had 45 assists for a game high. Nigel Nielsen led Winnipeg with 14 kills.
STANDINGS
The Huskies finished their regular season with a 17-7 record and fourth place in the Canada West standings.
NEXT UP
Saskatchewan will host the Canada West Quarter Finals on February 24 – 26 against the UBC Thunderbirds. The best of three series kicks off Friday night at 7:00 PM at the PAC in Saskatoon. Saturday’s match will go at 7:00 PM and Sunday’s game, if necessary, will be played at 2:00 PM. Tickets can be purchased at HuskieTickets.com and games can be streamed live on CanadaWest.TV.
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