SASKATOON, Sask. – The University of Saskatchewan (USask) Huskies remain perfect in 2025 through four games following a convincing straight-sets victory over the MacEwan University Griffins Saturday night (Jan. 18) on the Ron & Jane Graham Centre Court.
The U SPORTS No. 7-ranked Huskies captured two tightly-contested set wins before running away in the third to hand the winless Griffins their 14th loss of the season with set scores of 25-23, 27-25, and 25-13. The victory was the Dogs’ tenth of the campaign and seventh straight as they take sole possession of third in the conference standings and jump the UBC Thunderbirds who were on a bye this weekend.
It was a true team effort at the Physical Activity Complex, with four starting Huskies nearing or surpassing the 10-point mark. Fifth-year outside hitters Jefferson Morrow and Joshua Thorson capped off an impressive weekend with identical 12.5-point performances. Morrow, a former MacEwan Griffin, recorded 11 kills, an ace, and an assisted block in his most efficient game this season in which he converted on 40% of attacks. Thorson meanwhile, finished the match with nine kills, an assisted block, and a game-high three aces. Lucas Musschoot would follow closely behind on the stat sheet with 11.5 points while Emmet Graham and Jacob Baird added 10.5 and 9.5, respectively.
For MacEwan, Mitchell Croft led the visiting Griffins with 14.0 points and 11 kills with a .207 hitting percentage. Croft continues a strong season as the Griffins most efficient hitter.
The Dogs would control nearly every aspect of Saturday’s match, finishing the night with advantages in points (59-40), kills (47-30), aces (7-2), assists (46-27), and Digs (29-23). MacEwan would earn bragging rights at the net however with eight blocks to the Huskies five.
The opening set came down to the wire after the Griffins rattled off three straight points to cut the Huskie lead to 24-23 before Emmett Graham ended the comeback with a forceful attack, giving the Dogs the set lead.
In the second, it was a similar story as the two Canada West squads exchanged blows before coming to a 24-24 stalemate. After Joshua Thorson answered the call and gave the Dogs the advantage, Mitchell Croft would respond, tying things up once again. Unfortunately for the Griffins, an untimely service error provided Thorson a chance to end the frame. The Saskatoon product would do just that, besting MacEwan’s Jarod Inia with a service ace.
The third, and ultimately final, set saw the Dogs come out ready to send the Griffins packing. Saskatchewan would open with a 4-1 scoring run before stretching the lead with 5-1 and 7-2 point streaks to claim the straight sets victory with a dominant 25-13 final frame.
Next weekend the Dogs head on the road and face off with the nation’s No. 3-ranked team in the Winnipeg Wesmen. This will be USask’s third U SPORTS Top-10 matchup of the season thus far, with the Huskies having also taken on the Brandin Bobcats (No. 9 at the time) and Alberta Golden Bears (No. 1). The Griffins meanwhile head to Calgary for a weekend series with the Mount Royal Cougars.
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