SASKATOON – The University of Saskatchewan Huskies men's volleyball team used a relentless attack to defeat the visiting Calgary Dinos in straight sets (25-19, 26-24, 25-21) on Ron and Jane Graham Centre Court on Friday, Nov. 9.
Â
The win was the third in a row for a Huskies team that has now won their last nine sets consecutively to move them to 3-2 on the season. Calgary meanwhile, falls to 1-2 with the loss.
Â
Despite the 3-0 scoreline, the game was close throughout, with night ending with most stats appearing identical barring Saskatchewan's .236-.180 advantage in hitting percentage.
Â
Colin Fraser and
Dylan Mortensen ended the game with 13 and nine kills respectively, while
CJ Gavlas was again the key to the Huskies attack with 28 assists.
Â
Tim Taylor and Liam Laidlaw were the top attackers for Calgary, recording 9 and 7 kills. Gavin Taylor tallied 10 digs in the losing effort.
Â
A back-and-forth first set saw the Huskies take their first three-point lead at 17-14. From there the home team caught fire and ended the set with an exclamation mark from Fraser after out-scoring Calgary 8-3 down the stretch.
Â
Saskatchewan rode that momentum into the second half and jumped out to an early four-point lead before the Dinos battled back. Calgary was ahead 24-22 after strong serving runs from Blain Cranston, Liam Laidlaw and Liam Kuppe. The Huskies refused to let the set slip away however, and after a kill from
Connor Murray,
Levi Olson stepped up to the service line and tied the game at 24 with an ace. Olson served out the set after
Daulton Sinoski recorded a block and a kill on the final two points of the second frame.
Â
Calgary would again put up a stern effort in the third set but couldn't ever stretch a lead too far from a Saskatchewan team that would take the final frame 25-21. The Huskies took over momentum after grabbing the lead at 12-11 and refused to look back en route to the victory.
Â
Both of these teams will be back in action tomorrow, Nov. 10, in a game scheduled for 8 p.m. inside the PAC. That action can be watched live on
canadawest.tv
Â