KAMLOOPS, BC— The University of Saskatchewan Huskies women's volleyball team were able to pick up a key victory to keep their playoffs hope alive with a 3-1 (25-21,25-22,16-25,26-24) victory over the Thompson Rivers WolfPack in Kamloops, B.C.

The victory moves Saskatchewan to 9-13 on the season. Currently holding 18 points, they will need to sweep their final weekend of conference play and get some help from teams above them to qualify for the postseason.

Saskatchewan was led offensively by Emily Koshinsky with 21 kills while Alexandra Frank recorded 35 assists and 10 digs.  Olga Savenchuk had 19 for the WolfPack.  

"It was a good battle. I thought both teams played a bit better tonight than last night," said Huskies head coach Mark Dodds. "Both teams got used to the gym and tonight was a little better volleyball. I am happy we came out on top."

The Huskies took the first set as they got six kills from their chief offensive weapon, Koshinksky. Gabriella Podloski had  four kills for TRU.

The WolfPack jumped out to a strong start in the second set but the Huskies clawed back and went into the technical time out up one. Koshinsky and Georgia Hurry each had three kills in that set to propel Saskatchewan to the victory.

TRU head coach Chad Grimm shuffled his line up for the third set replacing Lizzy Reimer with Hayley McNaught. It seemed to spur his troops on as they jumped to a big lead. They were up 16-11 at the time out. McNaught had three kills in four swings  while Olga Savenchuk added five kills in that set while Kendra Finch added four.

The momentum gained by the WolfPack in that set propelled them into the next period and they led quite handily 16-9 going into the break.  But the Huskies battled back to cut the deficit to tie it up at 20. When Olivia Mattern found a seam and fired the ball into the open court to make it 24-22, Grimm was forced to take a second time out of the set.  The teams went to extra points before the Huskies came away with the set and match victory.

 "We certainly passed a lot better," said Dodds. "We also blocked a lot better and made better decisions on who we were going to focus on."

The teams will close out their Canada West regular seasons next weekend (Feb 15-16).  The Huskies will be at home to the Mount Royal Cougars while the WolfPack visit Kelowna, BC and the University of British Columbia Okanagan Heat.