SASKATOON, Sask. – The University of Saskatchewan (USask) huskie women’s volleyball team picked up their 10th win of the season Saturday night on the Ron & Jane Graham Centre Court, defeating the UBC-Okanagan Heat 3-1 in the Dogs’ “Senior Night” game. Set scores were 25-16, 25-18, 27-25, 25-20.
With the win the Dogs improve to 10-8 on the season and secure a weekend sweep over the visiting UBCO Heat. With two wins this weekend, the Huskies also maintain their position as the No. 7-seed in the Canada West standings, holding a significant advantage over the trailing Winnipeg Wesmen and Trinity Western Spartans. If the Dogs were to finish the season 7th they would host a play in series against the conference’s 10th-seeded team, finish sixth and they’ll advance straight to the quarterfinal round of the postseason.
For the Heat, the loss drops them to 4-12 with the team having also been knocked out of the 10th, and final, playoff position following Calgary wins over Brandon. Fighting for a their playoff hopes, UBCO is now two games back of the Dinos.
The opening set of Saturday’s match saw the two teams exchange scores up until an 11-11 tie at which point the Huskies recorded three straight points to take a narrow lead. The Dogs held their minimal advantage before Keely Anderson kicked off a 7-2 scoring run which saw Saskatchewan capture the first set.
Anderson recorded 7.0 points in the opening set, the most of any player on the court, thanks to six kills and service ace.
The second set saw the Huskies pull away much earlier than the previous frame, opening with an 11-3 run to take a convincing lead. From there, six points would be the closest the Heat got to Saskatchewan, as the Dogs took a 2-0 set lead for the second consecutive night.
The Dogs were back at it in the third, jumping out to a 15-10 advantage before the UBCO comeback kicked in. The visiting team chipped away at the deficit looking to avoid the straight sets sweep before ultimately tying the set up at 22-22. After giving up match point to the Huskies 25-24, the Heat recorded three straight points thanks to a trio of errors from the Dogs to earn their first set win of the night.
In the fourth, and ultimately final, set both the Huskies and Heat opened the frame strong, with neither team willing to give up significant runs. Despite a UBCO 4-1 run late, Saskatchewan battled back to take a 19-17 lead before closing the set and match out with a 6-2 run.
Four USask players reached double-digits in the win with Rosetta Cyr leading both the team and game with 21.0 points thanks to an incredible 20 kill outing in which the arts & science student converted on an impressive 50% of attacks. It marked the second time this season in which she has reached the 20-point mark and tied her most efficient game of the campaign. Teammates Keely Anderson and Taryn Hannah followed closely behind with 16.5 and 16.0 points respectively, with Jessica Bergstrom rounding out the Huskies in double figures with 11.5 points.
For the visiting Heat, Amaya Perry finished the game with a team-high 15.0 points with Olivia Boulding making it two UBCO players in double digits with 10.0 points on the night.
With Saturday’s game also marking the Huskie women’s volleyball team’s “Senior Night,” three Saskatchewan players were recognized prior to the game in Haley Poier, Julia Tregobov, and Julia Howell Bourner.
In three seasons with the Huskies Poier appeared in 37 matches and 101 sets, earning 13 assists, 10 service aces, and 11.0 total points. For Tregobov, who has battled injuries throughout her USask career, her seven years with the programs has seen her take the court in 14 matches and 22 sets, totaling three kills, four points and a pair of assists. Finally, Howell Bourner, a former Junior Huskie, appeared in 14 matches and 40 sets recording 56 kills and 89.5 points in addition to 34.0 total blocks and 13 aces.
The Dogs are back in action in two weeks time (Feb. 14 & 15) when the team returns from their bye week to take on the Trinity Western Spartans in Langley, B.C., in their regular season finale.
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