SASKATOON, Sask. – The #8 seed Saskatchewan Huskies defeated the visiting #9 seed Trinity Western Spartans Friday night (Feb 21) on Ron and Jane Graham Centre Court to take game one of their best-of-three Canada West play-in matchup by a final score of three sets to one (25-20, 25-23, 21-25, 25-23).
In what was a tightly contested, back-and-forth affair, it took contributions up and down the Saskatchewan lineup as the Huskies had three players collect double-digit kills, helping a Dogs’ attack narrowly out-hit Trinity Western 55-51. Saskatchewan also took the edge on defense at the net, outpacing the Spartans in total blocks 19-13.
Rosetta Cyr led the way for the Dogs in points, collecting 20 and due to a well-rounded stat sheet that saw the Punnichy, SK product collect 15 kills, three service aces and four block assists over the four set match.
After the game, Cyr attributed her and the Huskies’ performance to having a confident mindset. “Confidence really helps myself and our team just grow because we are young and we are facing a lot of older players in our league, but we come out confident and we’re just as good as them”
Alongside Cyr, Taryn Hannah enjoyed another standout performance as the third-year Huskie enjoyed an efficient night on offense by posting a .424 kill percentage, helping her secure 16 kills on 33 attacks. Hannah also made her presence known defensively, earning nine digs which helped to mitigate an impressive Spartan frontcourt attack led by Kaylee Plouffe.
Plouffe gave Saskatchewan all they could handle as the fourth-year veteran led the Spartans with 36 total attacks, collecting 18 points on the back of a team-leading 16 kills. The Sherwood Park, AB native also managed to add six digs and one solo block to her game one performance.
After jumping out to an early two sets to none lead, the Spartans dug in their heels during the 3rd. Despite being out-hit by the Dogs 15-12 in the frame, the Spartans dialed up their defense by collecting four blocks and getting pivotal kills late to win six of the final nine points and take the penultimate set 25-21.
With an early series lead on the line, the Huskies and Spartans traded blows as neither squad was able to put together an extended run. With the score knotted at 21 apiece, a kill from Faye Murray and an attack error from Keely Anderson pushed the Spartans ahead by two and on the verge of forcing a fifth and deciding set. However, Cyr and Jessica Bergstrom rattled off back-to-back kills to once again equalize the match 23-23. On the next point, a critical set error by the Spartans set up Huskies’ match point and Cyr made no mistake on her final swing of the match by securing the kill and the win for the Dogs.
With Trinity Western now facing elimination,head coach Ryan Hoffer hopes that some adjustments heading into game two will help his squad extend the series . “I know that they’re a good serving team, so we have to make sure we shore-up our receiving, get the ball up and forward and then make a good quality swing.”
Saskatchewan and Trinity Western will square off for game 2 on Saturday afternoon at the Physical Activity Compkex (Feb 22) with first serve set for 3:00PM.
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