WINNIPEG — The Winnipeg Wesmen men’s volleyball team staved off a resilient Saskatchewan Huskies squad Friday in a 3-1 (25-22, 26-24, 22-25, 28-26) win in the conference semifinal at the Canada West Final Four at the Duckworth Centre.
The result means the Wesmen are the first Canada West team to qualify for the eight-team nationals in Brandon March 21-23.
“I couldn’t have imagined this year going like this,” Wesmen head coach Chris Voth said. “We’ve just been going game-by-game and the guys have been amazing. We’re still looking for one more match, but unbelievable feeling going to nationals and the guys really deserve it. They’ve been pushing all year and I’m really proud of them.”
To get there, however, the Wesmen had to fend off a Saskatchewan team that refused to go away after Winnipeg went ahead two sets to none. After staying alive with a third-set win, and falling behind 19-14 in the fourth, the Huskies found a way to get back in the set. Saskatchewan won seven of the next nine points and pulled even at 21.
The teams played side-out volleyball from there with the Huskies fighting off two Wesmen set points before Winnipeg put the match away with back-to-back kills from middles Paxton Koop and Easton Dick.
The Canada West has three berths into this year’s nationals, so the Huskies will have a last-chance match for bronze on Saturday, (5 p.m. CT).
“We still have a chance to accomplish our goals for the year,” Huskies head coach Sean McKay said, “so any time you get a chance to play a volleyball game to after a goal you’ve set for yourself you should go after it, and I know these guys will. We just like to show up and be dogs, so I think they’re going to do that tomorrow.”
The Wesmen got a match-high 16 kills and 10 digs from first-team all-star Isaiah Olfert. Luke Lodewyks knocked down 14 kills while hitting .313, and all-rookie middle Easton Dick had a career-high 10 kills with no errors on 14 swings.
First-team all-conference outside Emmett Graham led the Huskies with 19 kills. Isaiah Mamer had 15 kills and second-team all-conference Jacob Baird notched a double-double with 10 kills and a match-high 12 digs.
The Wesmen hit .286 for the match while Saskatchewan attacked at .278.
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