The U of S volleyball teams kicked off their season during Oct. 28-30.

Oct. 28-30 marked the beginning of another volleyball season, as the Huskies women’s and men’s volleyball teams took on the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds. The matchups provided much excitement that ended with the women’s team being swept 2-0 by the nationally ranked Thunderbirds, while the men forced a tie, earning a record of 1-1.

The action on the evening of Oct. 28 started with three close, hard-fought sets. The first set saw the Huskies fall behind as many as seven points before fighting back with a run of their own, only to fall by a score of 27-25.

This first battle was matched by the next two, which saw the Huskies fall by scores of 25-21 and 26-24, respectively. The Huskies were led by fifth-year Emmalyn Copping and third-year Sabrina Balisky, who each recorded eight kills in the set.

The men’s team had a more successful Friday night as they beat the Thunderbirds in another close fought set, ending the first set with the Huskies pulling through to a 27-25 win. The men’s team also won the second set 25-23, before falling in the third.

The Huskies fought back to win the fourth and final set of the night 25-20. The team was led by fifth-year Andrew Nelson who recorded 18 kills on the night. The match also marked the Canadian Interuniversity Sport debut of rookie setter Derek Epp, who recorded 39 assists in the game.

The Oct. 29 matches managed to prove even more exciting as the women forced a five-set game against UBC. It was a back and forth battle as the Huskies won the first and third sets by scores of 25-22 and 25-20, respectfully. Losing the second by a close set of 25-22, the Huskies struggled in the fourth losing by a sizeable margin of 25-12. The team fought another tough battle in the final set before falling 15-10.

UBC was led by their captain Danielle Brisebois who recorded a game high of 20 kills, while their setter Alessandra Gentile earned 43 assists and 13 digs in Saturday’s contest.

The Huskies were led by fourth-year starting setter Mackenzie Pek, who earned 30 assists and 10 digs in the game. Fifth-year Copping added a team high of 15 kills during the evening as well.

The Huskies men’s team won the first set of their Saturday match by a score of 25-18 before losing their stride in the second (25-15) and third (25-14) sets. After making several lineup changes, the Huskies looked strong in the fourth set as they battled UBC, coming close to pushing a fifth set before falling 25-22 to the visiting team.

UBC was led by their setter Byron Keturakis who played a well-rounded game complete with 32 assists, seven kills and eight digs. Third-year players Mat Guidi and Cam Fennema recorded 12 and 11 kills, respectively.

The Huskies men’s team were again led by fifth-year Nelson who recorded seven digs and 11 kills on the game. Third-year Colin Fraser recorded 10 kills while fifth-year captain Tyler Epp added seven kills.

The Huskies have a long season ahead of them, as they head to Edmonton to face the  MacEwan University Griffins from Nov. 4-6. They will return to play on home court again Nov. 25 against the University of Brandon Bobcats.

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Jennifer Walker

Photo: Jeremy Britz / Photo Editor