Canada West playoffs: Win, win for Saskatchewan Huskies v’ball, b’ball

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Those Dogs dug deep Sunday.

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The University of Saskatchewan Huskies trailed in the first two sets of the third-and-deciding game of their Canada West women’s volleyball playoff series against the visiting Trinity Western University Spartans, yet somehow found a way and prevailed on the home court at the Physical Activity Complex.

Saskatchewan ended up winning in three straight sets (25-16, 25-22, 25-23) but Trinity Western had the Huskies on the ropes a number of times.

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“We were the comeback team today, and, despite it being 3-0, it definitely didn’t feel that way considering exactly that — we were down throughout,” said Huskies head coach Mark Dodds, who team now advances to Canada West quarter-final action next weekend in Abbotsford, B.C., against the top-seeded Fraser Valley Cascades.

The best-of-three series runs Friday, Saturday and, if necessary, Sunday.

Saskatchewan had earned a 3-1 victory Friday (25-20, 25-23, 21-25, 25-23) over Trinity Western before the Spartans reversed the tables, forcing a third-and-deciding game with a 3-1 win Saturday (19-25, 25-16, 26-24, 25-21).

“Through those first two games, we win 3-1 and we lose 3-1, the hitting percentage, the efficiencies for each team were basically exactly the same in Game 1 — we were one per cent better. Game 2, they were one per cent better,” assessed Dodds. “And, then today, that gap was bigger. We outplayed them, out-hit them, but through those first two games, I think we were plus-three points. Through eight sets of volleyball, we scored three more points than they did and we both won 3-1.

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“It was literally just a dead-even fight. We watched a little video (Sunday) morning, made a few adjustments and the team did a really good job of executing those adjustments. And, it ultimately slowed them down (Sunday) and forced them to do some different things and they didn’t execute very well and we were able to squeeze it out, but, again, other than that first set where we made a big comeback and won with a big gap, the last two sets were just back-and-forth all the way to the end — and a lot of fun.”

Rosetta Cyr led the Dogs with 13 kills, six digs and a service ace Sunday. Taryn Hannah added eight kills and Keely Anderson had seven for the Huskies.

Anderson chipped in with a team-leading 11 digs. Jessica Bergstrom had four blocks. Julia Howell Bourner and Tielle Hagel added three apiece.

Anderson bounced back after struggling Saturday night.

“The ebbs and the flows of being a student-athlete and playing well and playing poorly,” said Dodds when asked about it. “We have lots of trust in Keely to come out and get the job done today and she made some adjustments, went home after (Saturday) night and reflected and came back today and performed.

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“Ultimately it’s a difficult stage to perform on, but she found a way and played great today. It was fun to see her bounce back.”

The Huskies will practice Tuesday and Wednesday before flying out to B.C. early Thursday morning.

“We’re ready,” said Dodds. “End of the season, we’re ready to perform again and, today and this weekend, actually, playing against a team like Trinity Western helped us grow and become better. They pushed us right to the limit and we’re definitely more prepared now than we were before this weekend.”

Top-seeded Huskies advance to CW semifinal

The Saskatchewan Huskies defeated the visiting Trinity Western Spartans 83-57 in Canada West quarter-final women’s basketball action Saturday night on the Ron & Jane Graham Centre Court.

The Dogs now advance to the Canada West semifinal round on their home court against the University of Fraser Valley Cascades on Saturday night.

Andrea Dodig and Tea DeMong led the way against the Spartans with 14 points each. Dodig would also add a game-high 10 rebounds in the contest, earning a double-double.

Courtney Primeau and Gage Grassick added 12 points apiece, while Ella Murphy Wiebe had 10 to round out the Huskies’ leading scorers.
Trinity Western’s Shemaiah Abatayo recorded a game-high 20 points for Trinity.

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