It wasn’t the smoothest start to the season for the Saskatchewan Huskies men’s volleyball team.
After facing four of the top seven teams in the U-Sports rankings, they opened the season 0-8, but this past weekend they finally got the monkey off their back with a sweep over the Mount Royal Cougars (3-1, 3-0).
“We’d kinda been building towards this weekend. Every week we’ve been getting better and better so we knew it was coming, we’d had some close games, but for sure it felt really nice to finally get one under our belt,” captain Colin Fraser said.
“We’re a relatively young team, and we have some first year guys who are getting a feel for the process. I’d like to think that we’re going to continue to evolve and get better,” head coach Brian Gavlas added at practice in the Physical Activity Centre at the University of Saskatchewan.
Two rookies are in the Huskies starting lineup. Dylan Mortensen has been hitting on the outside, and Mason Scott has been playing middle blocker.
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Both have been rising to the challenge of playing in the top conference in Canada, the Canada West.
“There’s not a lot of expectations because I haven’t had any past performances, so I just got out there and do my thing and hopefully find success in what I do,” Mortensen, who hails from Swift Current, said.
Some veterans, including Fraser and setter CJ Gavlas, started when they were rookies. They’ve been giving the first years some words of wisdom throughout the season.
“Have confidence in yourself, and just go have fun, just know you’re a good player, and you’re meant to be in this league for some reason or else you wouldn’t be here”, Scott explained at practice.
The Huskies record seems dismal (2-8), but they’re only one spot out of the playoffs. They’re currently tied in ninth place in the Canada West with two other teams.
“Our next five meetings are our most important because they’re against that mixture of teams that are down there fighting for that last playoff spot,” Scott noted.
“We need to get in the win column for sure, to maintain an opportunity to try to reach a playoff position. I think it’s still legitimately there for us. Getting a little more consistent play is obviously going to be necessary for that to happen,” Gavlas added.
Saskatchewan will find a good test this weekend as they head to Winnipeg to face the Manitoba Bisons (4-6), who are one spot ahead of the Huskies in eighth place.
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