Balanced Attack Leads Dogs to Straight-Sets Victory Over Heat

SASKATOON, Sask. – It was an efficient evening for the U SPORTS No. 7-ranked University of Saskatchewan (USask) men’s volleyball team, who will close out their regular season home schedule this weekend against the UBCO Heat. Friday night (Jan. 31) saw the Dogs earn their third straight-sets victory on the Ron & Jane Graham Centre Court this season, downing a 9-7 Heat team 25-16, 25-18, 25-19 in the first of their two-game weekend series. 

With the win, the Huskies improve to 12-5 and maintain their position as the No. 4-seed in the Canada West standings. With just five games remaining in the regular season, the Huskies are currently on track to host a postseason quarterfinal series, holding a 10-point lead over the 5th-placed Trinity Western Spartans.

Meanwhile the visiting UBCO Heat move to 9-8 on the year with the loss. Despite the blemish to their record, the Heat still hold a strong position in the conference standings as the 6th-seeded team. 

The first set saw the Huskies come out strong, producing a 7-2 run as they opened the weekend doubleheader. The No. 7-ranked team in the country did not let up from there, as they continued to press the attack receiving kills from up and down the lineup. Leading 21-11, the Dogs would see kills from Isaiah Mamer and Jefferson Morrow which, combined with untimely errors from the Heat, gave the home team the early lead. 

In a 25-18 second set victory, Saskatchewan would continue their highly efficient attack which experienced one of it’s most impressive outings this year. The Dogs would once again jump out to an early lead before late kills from Lucas Musschoot and Jefferson Morrow sent the game to match-point heading into the third.

Musschoot finished the match tied for a game-high 10.0 points thanks to 8 kills, a service ace, and a solo block. In one of his best performances of the season, the second-year arts & science student converted on 64% of attacks, missing on just three swings all night. The middle blocker tied UBCO’s Thys Weststrate for the game-high, with Weststrate leading the Heat with 7 kills, 2.0 blocks, and a service in the loss.

The third, and ultimately final, set of the night saw the Heat come out strong looking to avoid the sweep before the Dogs put together an 8-3 run to take a commanding lead int he set. After Ashton South and Sam Jablonski responded with a breif run of their own to pull UBCO back into the frame, it was Jacob Baird and Emmett Graham who kicked off the final scoring run of the night to give the Huskies win No. 12 of the campaign.

In addition to Musschoot, Saskatchewan saw strong performances from each member of their starting lineup with Emmett Graham recording 9.5 points, Jefferson Morrow 9.0, Isaiah Mamer 8.0, and Jacob Baird 7.0, while combining for an impressive .380 hitting percentage. Noah Opseth would lead the game in kill assists, adding 25 to his conference-best total. 

The Huskies and Heat return to the court at the Physical Activity Complex tomorrow at 3:00 PM to close out their weekend series.