WINNIPEG – The University of Saskatchewan men's volleyball team found another gear when it mattered the most in a thrilling 3-2 (25-22, 25-18, 28-30, 19-25, 15-9) victory over the host Winnipeg Wesmen on January 4.

Daniel Thiessen and Adrian Dyck had 16 kills apiece to lead three Wesmen players in double figures. Ethan Duncan added 10 kills while Thiessen had a career-high 17 digs.

The Huskies got a match-high 24 kills from Colin Fraser, and 13 each from Dylan Mortensen and Daulton Sinoski. 

Saskatchewan hit .267 for the match, while the Wesmen went off at .182.

"I just think we'd have a couple of players doing their jobs (at a time), a couple of good players playing a really good set, but not all of us at the same time," said Wesmen libero Darian Picklyk, who had 13 digs and three assists. "When we came back in the third set, we were all doing our jobs and our bench really helped us come back."

The Wesmen, looking dead in the water down 2-0 and facing a 21-16 deficit in the third, rallied behind the substitution serving of Will Racano and scored the next five points to pull even. Saskatchewan had two match points at 24-22 and again at 27-26 and 28-27, but couldn't put it away before Winnipeg surged ahead with three straight points to keep the match alive.

In the fourth, everything seemed moving Winnipeg's way with the Wesmen jumping out early and eventually turning a 13-12 lead into a 23-17 advantage.

But it was all Huskies in the fifth with Saskatchewan winning 10 of the first 13 points of the set, backed largely by a strong serve game that the Wesmen struggled to handle. 

"I thought our servers did a goob job, especially in the fifth set, not being scared," Saskatchewan head coach Nathan Bennett said. "I think they went out and went after it and that's a testament to this group. They did a great job in that moment."