SASKATOON, Sask. – In what was a back-and-forth series all weekend long, the Saskatchewan Huskies ultimately prevailed, winning game three and taking their opening play-in series 2-1 by defeating the visiting Trinity Western Spartans in straight sets (25-16, 25-22, 25-23) Sunday afternoon on Ron and Jane Graham Centre Court.
The result now punches the Huskies ticket to the second round of the playoffs and is the first appearance in the Canada West quarter-finals for the Dogs since the 2019-20 season..
After each team traded wins in the opening two games, the Huskies defensive prowess was on full display in the final game of the series as the Dogs’ second ranked defense in total blocks collected 13 more, helping to thwart a strong Spartans front court.
Saskatchewan held Trinity to a meager 14.9% hitting percentage while forcing the Spartans into 22 attack errors enroute to the Huskies straight sets victory.
The Dogs defense allowed their offense to flourish as Saskatchewan was able to convert on 31.5% of their attacks, resulting in 36 total kills.
“Today in video, the first thing we said was we need to out defend them”, said Saskatchewan third-year outside hitter Rosetta Cyr. “We wanted to track down every ball the best that we could no matter how bad it hurt. I think that was our key to success today.”
After a standout performance in game one, Cyr collected a game-high 14.5 points. The veteran Huskie swung at a respectable 33% clip, managing to pick up an additional game-high 13 kills on 27 attacks. Rounding out her stat sheet, the Punnicky, SK product also posted six digs, one service ace and one block assist.
Cyr was joined by Taryn Hannah and Keely Anderson, who each collected 9.5 points, while the two outside hitters also managed to nab eight and seven kills, respectively. Meanwhile Anderson was also all over the court defensively, picking up a game-high 11 digs for the Dogs.
For Trinity Western, the Spartans were led by the trio of Maryn Boldon, Kaylee Plouffe and Faye Murray, who combined for 26 of the Spartans’ 36 kills and 31.5 of their team’s 43 points. However, the aforementioned Dogs’ defense frustrated Trinity’s top hitters, forcing them into a combined 0.093 hitting percentage.
After Saskatchewan took the opening set 25-16, the second set saw Trinity battling back by trying to get around the Huskies’ blocks, but errors continued to plague the Spartans. At 17-13, the Huskies went on a five-point streak, including key kills from Keely Anderson and Norah Matthews, bringing Saskatchewan to an 18-17 lead. With both teams fighting fiercely down the stretch, Taryn Hannah sealed the set for the Huskies with a powerful kill, giving the Huskies a 25-22 set win.
In the third, the Huskies surged to an early 6-1 lead, capitalizing on three straight Trinity attack errors to open the frame. However, with their season on the line, Trinity continued to fight back. With the Spartans now trailing 16-12, the visitors rattled off six straight points to take the lead 18-16. But a clutch kill and service ace on back-to-back points from Hannah tied the set at 18-18. Later, with the score knotted at 23-23, a Trinity service error set up match point for the Huskies and fittingly the Dogs followed up with a game clinching block to secure the series for Saskatchewan.
When asked about his team’s performance this season, Spartans head coach Ryan Hoffer noted his team’s resilience.
“This team showed a lot of resilience, we were tooling around with different lineups [and] had a different lineup late in the season [but] they just kept learning to fight. They kept adjusting well, they went through a lot of tough stuff together and are not afraid to do hard things together. I couldn’t be more proud as a coach.”
The Huskies will now travel to Abbotsford, BC to take on the Canada West #1 ranked University of Fraser Valley Cascades, who finished the season with a 17-3 record.
With game one of their quarter-final matchup set for February 28th at 8:00PM, this will be the first matchup between Saskatchewan and UFV this season.
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