Mackenna Knox directed a balanced Brock offence as the third-seeded Badgers swept the sixth-seeded Saint Mary’s Huskies 3-0 (25-19, 25-22, 25-18) in the second quarterfinal of the 2026 U SPORTS Women’s Volleyball Championship, presented by Booster Juice, on Friday at the Langley Events Centre.
Knox, Brock’s player of the game, controlled the tempo throughout the afternoon, finishing with 36 assists while adding nine digs and three block assists as the Badgers improved to 21-3 on the season (17-3 OUA).
Brock’s offence featured several key contributors. Emily Foest led all players with 14 kills, while Madison Tuck added nine and Emma Baruchelli chipped in eight on an efficient .500 hitting percentage. Charlotte Ross contributed six kills and a match-high five block assists as the Badgers finished with 10 team blocks and a .176 hitting percentage.
Saint Mary’s struggled to generate consistent offence against Brock’s defensive pressure, finishing the match with a negative attack percentage (-.020) and just 19 kills.
Despite the result,
Emilia Mikanovich earned player-of-the-game honours for the Huskies. She recorded six kills, 10 digs and two service aces in a two-way effort for Saint Mary’s.
Esther Wildeboer also contributed six kills and a pair of aces in the loss.
The Badgers seized control late in the opening set and carried that momentum through the match. Saint Mary’s mounted its strongest challenge in the second set, trimming the deficit to 22-21 before Brock closed with three of the final four points.
Brock then put the match away in the third set, pulling ahead midway through before sealing the straight-sets victory.
With the win, the Badgers advance to Saturday’s first national semifinal, where they will face second-seeded Sherbrooke at 6 p.m. Pacific Time.
Saint Mary’s, now 14-11 overall (10-10 AUS), will move to the consolation side of the bracket and face seventh-seeded Thompson Rivers in a Saturday matchup scheduled for noon Pacific (4 p.m. ADT).
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