SASKATOON – The University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s volleyball team picked up their third consecutive victory with a 3-1 (17-25, 25-20, 25-22, 30-28) win over the visiting UBC Thunderbirds on Ron & Jane Graham Centre Court at the PAC on Saturday, Oct. 26, 2019.
 
The Huskies are now 3-1 in Canada West action, matching the team’s best start to a season since 2016-17. With the win, Saskatchewan has now won four of their last five matchups against UBC, with the sweep being the team’s first over the west coast opponent since the 2015-16 season.
 
Meanwhile, after splitting their opening weekend series to Winnipeg, paired with the two road losses against Saskatchewan, UBC falls to 1-3 on the season.
 
Dylan Mortensen paced the Huskies with an 18 kill, three service ace performance, with the 2019 Canada West second-team all-star finishing with a .405 hitting percentage on his 37 total attacks. Meanwhile, Connor Murray and Daulton Sinoski each tacked on ten kills and two total blocks of their own.
 
On the UBC side, Matt Neaves led the way with 17 kills to go along with four total blocks. Fourth-year Jordan Deshane made his presence felt in the middle of the floor, registering ten kills and a game-high seven total blocks. Third-year outside hitter Coltyn Liu tallied a game-high three aces while chipping in nine kills of his own.
 
Winning the first frame never seemed to be in question for the Thunderbirds, as the Huskies lone lead was at 5-4 in the set. From there, the Thunderbirds would not trail again in the frame, with a pair of kills from Nick Mickelberry in the late-going carrying the visitors to the opening set win. UBC held a marvellous .429 hitting percentage in the first, in comparison to Saskatchewan’s .053 clip, which proved to be a factor in deciding the frame.
 
Despite dropping the opening set, it was clear the Huskies weren’t going to be satisfied with winning one of two against the Thunderbirds as they found their gear in the third.
 
In a thrilling third set, two teams exchanged points throughout the frame, leading to a nail-biting finish. With the set all-square at 21-21, Sinoski’s block at the net and Luke Wandzura’s sneaky off-speed hit at the net helped give the club a two-point advantage. From there, Connor Murray’s kill closed the frame 25-22 in favour of the Huskies, giving the home side the lead with their second-straight set victory.
 
Much like the third, the fourth set was much of the same as it came down to the wire. With the frame tied at 24-24, 25-25, 26-26, 27-27, and then finally 28-28, before the Huskies found a way to pull away, recording three-consecutive points, to pick up the win thanks to Sinoski and Daven Pascal stuffing Danny Aspenlieder at the end to make the final 30-28 in favour of Saskatchewan.
 
The Huskies will stay in Saskatoon next weekend, welcoming the defending Canada West champion Brandon Bobcats to town. Meanwhile, UBC will trek back home as they get set to start a six-game homestand, which will see the Mount Royal Cougars get the party started on Friday night.
 
All of that action can be watched live on Canada West TV presented by Co-op.

[SOURCE: UBC]