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By Ben Tompkins

Fighting for first place

Huskies split weekend series with Wesmen, off to face Bisons for final regular-season road series

Feb 15, 2022 | 6:44 PM

The Huskies Men’s Volleyball team split their home series against the division-leading Winnipeg Wesmen this past weekend, as they still trail them by only a game.

After the first game on Friday night, which saw the then 7-6 Huskies take down the then 7-6 Wesmen by a score of 3-1, both teams were tied atop the East Division.

Thanks to an impressive game-high 27 kills by Huskie’s Dylan Mortenson on Friday, nearly doubling the second-highest of any other player with 14, the U of S looked to have all the momentum heading into game two on Saturday afternoon at the PAC.

Unfortunately for the Huskies, who were looking to take control of the division with a series sweep, the Wesmen fought back to win their own match by a score of 3-1, despite the U of S winning the first set. Winnipeg’s Daniel Thiessen was instrumental in the victory with 20 kills, double that of the Huskie’s leading attacker with only 10.

Huskie’s head coach Sean McKay told HuskieFAN after the weekend contests one of the things his team has to work on is being able to carry that momentum and hold it over from one game to another.

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“We still have some work to do on our turnaround between games,” said McKay. “That night one to night two shift, seems to be a bit of an issue. We tend to bring a lot in the first game, then not as much in the second. We’re switching around some things, so we’re trying to figure that out.”

In such a tight conference where the first and last place teams are only separated by two games, McKay knows just how important winning two games in a weekend can be and the impact it has on the standings.

“Any game between two teams fighting for first in the conference can have a two-point swing, so we’re obviously looking for that sweep out, but we’re prepared for whatever scenario we have to face come playoff time.”

Of course, with this year’s playoff structure, whoever finishes first in their division will host one of three pools during the first round of the playoffs, something which McKay and his team know that’s at stake and are striving for because of three factors.

One, they truly feel a home-court advantage because of how well the fans in and around Saskatoon have supported them at the PAC. Two, they currently hold a record of 4-2 at home, while they are 3-5 on the road. And finally, three, they are one of the teams this year who have one less home series this year, four, compared to the road series they have, five. McKay said, his team feels they are owed a first-round home-playoff series this year.

However, with four games still remaining on the docket this regular season, they still have some work to do and that starts this weekend against the University of Manitoba.

“We have to play more consistently and cleaner than we have been,” said McKay. “They are a low error team and we are a little more high risk, so there are two ways to go about that. Either, we lower the risk or be more consistent with it. We’re going to do a little bit of both this weekend and hope for a good outcome.”

Friday, Feb. 18 and Saturday, Feb. 19 games against the Bisons in Winnipeg will both start at 6 p.m. The Huskies are 2-2 this year against the U of M, 1-1 at home and on the road.

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Ben.Tompkins@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter @BenTompkins_8