Huskies sweep Cougars to open season

A University of Saskatchewan 3-0 (25-20, 25-13, 25-17) victory gave the Huskies a two-game sweep over provincial foe the University of Regina Cougars Saturday at the PAC in Saskatoon.

The loss leaves the Cougars undefeated at 0-4 to begin the Canada West men’s volleyball season, while the Huskies are 2-0. A night earlier, the Huskies defeated the Cougars in similar fashion winning 3-0 (25-20, 25-14, 25-20).

Left side Alwyn Piche led the Huskies with a match-high eight kills and six digs. Huskie middle blocker Ben Bourgeois finished the night with seven kills and Jarret Christenson and Geoffrey Zerr each had six. Regina’s Mathew Brooks led his team with five kills, followed by Jamie Wilkins with four. Huskie rookie Matt Busse had a match-high 10 digs.

The Huskies and Cougars played point-for-point in the first set of the match staying within one or two points of each other until they were tied at 18 and Saskatchewan began to break away. A Bourgeois kill gave the Huskies the ball at 21-19. Jeff Grant was put in the game to serve for the Huskies. Attack errors by the Cougars and a Piche successful attempt sent the Huskies to match point. Wilkins gave his team the ball back when his attack froze the Huskie back line but Ryan Cherwaty had a service error to give the Huskies set point at 25-20.

Regina opened the second game with three straight points on serves by Caleb Eschbach. Piche led the Huskies back into the lead with attacks that found empty floor space. Zerr added five points for his team before a service error gave the Cougars the ball. The possession didn’t last long Busse slid the ball just over the heads of Cougar blockers to return the ball to his team. He then went on a five service run that included two aces to put his team up 20-7. The Cougars couldn’t recovering losing 25-13.

In the third set, the Cougars stayed point-for-point with the Huskies and eventually took a 10-9 lead when a Busse block went out of bounds. Zerr was able to get his team right back the ball but Regina stayed with the Huskies trading a few more points. Saskatchewan broke away after being tied at 13 with kills by setter Cole Hintz, Busse and Piche to go up by four points. They continued to hold the large lead until the 25-17 victory.

Both the Cougars and Huskies will hit the road next week. Regina will travel to Kamloops, B.C. to face the Thompson Rivers University Wolfpack, while the Huskies will head to Brandon to meet the Brandon University Bobcats.