Watch above: The Saskatchewan Huskies women’s volleyball team aims to earn spot in the post season for the first time in a dozen years. Jack Haskins looks at what obstacles the squad has to overcome to reach their goal.
SASKATOON – The Saskatchewan Huskies women’s volleyball team is no longer satisfied with moral victories, they want to make the playoffs. The program stormed back to life last season when the dogs posted a 9-19 record, their best showing since the 2001-02 campaign. But despite the team’s best effort, Saskatchewan missed the post season in 2014.
“We weren’t satisfied satisfied with the year,” said Huskies middle blocker Emily Humbert. “We could look back and be happy with what we did, but not satisfied with where we want to be, and we’re in the same kind of hunt this year.”
The first half of this season hasn’t gone according to plan for the Huskies. Saskatchewan sits with a disappointing 4-10 record, but head coach Jason Grieve believes that the team has grown stronger through their struggles.
“We’re coming together more. You go through some tougher experiences so you have your pieces that you got to learn from as a team,” said Grieve before practice on Thursday. “I think that helps us get a little bit tougher as we walk into the second semester.”
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The Huskies have a realistic chance of improving on last season’s nine win campaign, but that isn’t good enough according to fourth year setter Jina Barker.
“The first two years that I played here it was king of like, okay just try to get some wins, but now it’s like you know what, no, we’re going for a playoff spot.”
Saskatchewan sits three wins back of the seventh and final playoff spot currently occupied by the 7-7 Winnipeg Wesmen. The Huskies will have to make up a ton of ground with only 10 games remaining, but considering how competitive the Canada West has become, the Huskies believe they still have a shot.
“It’s really anyone’s game,” says Barker. “Random teams win against harder teams, and that doesn’t usually happen, but this year everyone’s kind of equal so we have a lot of opportunity, we just have to be the team that pushes that extra three percent.”
The Huskies have a great opportunity on deck as Saskatchewan’s first series back from the holiday break is against the sixth place Brandon Bobcats. The 8-6 Bobcats is a team the Huskies are trying to chase down, and a pair of wins for the ‘Dogs would go a long way towards improving Saskatchewan’s playoff chances.
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