EDMONTON — The University of Saskatchewan Huskies men's volleyball team took the No. 6 ranked Alberta Golden Bears the distance in nearly every set but in the end weren't able to pull off the upset for the second night in a row as they fell 3-1 (26-24,19-25, 27-25, 26-24) Saturday night at the Saville Community Sports Centre.
 
Sophomore outside hitter Dylan Mortensen led Saskatchewan with a game-high 30 kills with Colin Fraser adding 16 more. CJ Gavlas recorded a game-high in both assists and digs with 49 and 13 respectively.

Third-year outside hitter Taryq Sani led the Bears attack with 22 kills and six digs, while senior left-side hitter Alex McMullin chipped in with 13 kills and seven digs.

With the win, the Golden Bears improve to 13-5, while Saskatchewan falls to 9-9.
 
After splitting the first two games, Alberta looked in disarray in the third set. They were down 17-11 and were struggling to wrestle momentum away from Saskatchewan, but that's when associate coach Brock Davidiuk and head coach Terry Danyluk looked to their bench for a boost.

Third-year setter Max Elgert came off the bench and was a force at the service line, while fourth-year outside hitter Carter McIntyre and freshman left side hitter Braedon Friesen gave the Bears a huge spark.

Down 17-11, Alberta took a 18-17 lead. Then, trailing 24-21, they caught fire with five-straight points to take the third set win.

Despite letting the third set slip away, the Huskies kept pushing Alberta to the limit. 

They took a lead early in the fourth set, and even when the Golden Bears regained the lead, the Huskies weren't going away easy. Saskatchewan tied the set five different times, including 21-21 and 24-24 late, but the Bears prevailed.
 
"It's point-by-point-by-point and once you take a mental break, runs like that can happen," said Huskies first-year head coach Nathan Bennett.

"I give my team real good credit. We've been struggling on Saturday's and despite the result, I thought our guys did a great job putting two really good matches together. I was really proud of our effort. We got a split, and this is something we can build from."

Next up, both Alberta and Saskatchewan enter their "bye" week before Alberta hosts the University of British Columbia Okanagan Heat, while Saskatchewan travels to Kamloops, B.C. to take on the Thompson Rivers University Wolf Pack, February 8-9.