Huskies Punch Their Ticket to Canada West Final Four & U SPORTS Nationals with Game Three Sweep

ABBOTSFORD, B.C. – The University of Saskatchewan Huskies upset the top-seeded University of the Fraser Valley Cascades in three sets on Sunday afternoon to clinch their spot in the Canada West Final Four next week in Edmonton.

With the win, the Huskies also earn a berth to the USPORTS National Championship hosted by the University of Manitoba from March 14-16, 2025.

“It’s unbelievable for these athletes,” Saskatchewan head coach Mark Dodds noted after the game. “They put in so much work and so much sacrifice, so it’s nice to see them rewarded like this.”

The teams traded shots early, but with the score level at 12, a short serving run from Rosetta Cyr gave the Huskies the first significant lead at 16-12. Kills from Keely Anderson and Jessica Bergstrom closed out the set 25-20.

Service aces from Sydney Wright, Mandi Feist, and Cailin Bitter put UFV up 14-8 in the second. A Norah Matthews serving run for the Huskies cut that deficit back to just two before a pair of Abbey Klein kills tied the set up at 15. UFV found an edge late, going up 24-22, but the Huskies fended off three set points to tie it up at 27. A kill from Taryn Hannah and an error from UFV put Saskatchewan up two sets to zero.

A block and a kill from Anderson started off a Huskies run in the third, as they took a 7-4 lead early on. The Cascades battled back, and a pair of Zoe Arca blocks tied the set up again at 14. The teams traded shots through the frame, but with the score tied at 24 an Anderson ace and another UFV error ended the match and sent the Huskies into the Canada West Final Four.

The result sees the Cascades’ campaign come to a sudden end, after finishing the regular season in the top spot for the first time in program history.

“I think we are really proud of this season that we had, and there was lots of history made by the program this year,” UFV head coach Janelle Rozema noted. “We’re not going to let one three game series steal away from the historical moments that we had.”

Bitter posted a match-high five aces to go with 27 assists and two blocks for UFV, while Feist and Lauren Attieh had 11 kills apiece.

As she did all series, Anderson led the way for the Huskies posting 10 kills, a match-high 20 digs, and four blocks. Bergstrom finished with nine kills, as did Abbey Klein who came in off the bench.

“Keely [Anderson] had a bit of an up and down season and battled things a bit,” Dodds mentioned about Anderson after the game. “I told her at the start of the season that we were going to need her on the court to win, and I guess I was right.