After a thrilling comeback victory over the UBC Thunderbirds on Sunday, we might have to start calling the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s volleyball team the ‘Cardiac Kids.’
The Huskies are still alive after staring down elimination on more than one occasion in their three-game Canada West semi-final series against the Thunderbirds in a heavyweight battle that went right down to the wire at the Physical Activity Complex.
“I had quite a few people approach me from the community just saying how that might be one of the better weekends of volleyball this community has seen in a while,” said Huskies head coach Sean McKay.
After dropping Game 1 in straight sets Friday, the Huskies rallied to win Game 2 and Game 3 in a pair of marathon five-setters against UBC to remain in the hunt for a Canada West title. This included facing a handful of series points against the Thunderbirds, however, the team was able to defend well and keep their season alive.
“It speaks highly of our resiliency,” said Huskies fifth-year setter Jacob Rapin. “I think that’s kind of what we’re built on and that’s kind of our strength. We always believe, we always feel like we can fight back and have that chance to win.”
That never-say-die spirit will be needed once again in the Huskies’ next series, as they will now head to Edmonton to take on the conference’s top seed in the University of Alberta Golden Bears.
“It’s never over,” said fifth-year outside hitter Levi Olson. “Obviously, we got swept 3-0 in the first game Friday night and there were many points even on the Saturday where we were a point away from our season being over. So, (we’re) looking to take that forward into Edmonton even if we have to go three games again.”
Standing in the Huskies’ way of a berth in the Canada West championship series is a Golden Bears team that finished the regular season with just two losses in 24 matches.
All-star outside hitter Dylan Mortensen said the Bears will be a tough opponent to be sure, however, the team just needs to look back to the opening month of the season for confidence.
“We’re definitely underdogs against Alberta too, in their gym as well,” said Mortensen. “Hopefully we have a few of our home crowd making the trip out, it sounds like we will. But they’re a great team, obviously. We were one of the two teams that beat them in the regular season so that should give us some confidence.”
If the Huskies are able to win two out of the three games this weekend, they will punch their ticket to the U Sports national tournament as well – an honour that has been a long time coming for the program, with their last national appearance coming back in 2016.
“Clinching that nationals berth has been a goal of mine since the very first day I stepped on the court here,” said Mortensen. “It would be amazing. We want to win that Friday game first, win that first set, but hopefully, we get to that bridge when we come to it.”
Game 1 between the Huskies and Golden Bears goes Friday night at 8 p.m. Central time, with the entirety of the series being played in Edmonton.