The Huskies volleyball squads were in Edmonton to take on the University of Alberta in the season opening weekend Oct. 27 and 28.

Costumes filled the crowd in the Saville Community Sport Centre in Edmonton Oct. 26 and 27 to watch the No. 3 ranked University of Alberta Pandas volleyball team open the season against the women’s Huskies squad.

The Dogs were swept in the weekend series by last year’s Canada West champions, losing in four sets both evenings.

Pandas rookie outside hitter Kacey Otto had a strong outing in her first CIS matches. The Calgary native finished the weekend with 28 kills and 10 aces.

Huskies fourth-year outside hitter Carmen Dubnick had 10 kills and an ace in the first match of the weekend. Sophomore middle Kayla Tycholiz had eight kills in the first match and a team-high 11 kills in the weekend’s second match.

The Huskies men’s volleyball team entered the season ranked number seven in the nation and were playing against the number one ranked Alberta Golden Bears Oct. 26 and 27 at Saville Community Sport Centre in Edmonton.

After winning the first set 25-18 on Oct. 26, the Huskies men’s squad couldn’t regain the lead for the rest of the weekend, dropping the next three sets to lose the first match. They lost the second match in three straight sets Oct. 27.

In the first match the Dogs were led by Paul Thomson, who tallied 12 kills, and assisted by six-foot-nine middle Braden McLean, who picked up seven.

In the second match of the weekend the Dogs kept each game close losing by only three points in the first set and four points in each of the next two sets.

In the end, Alberta’s Jay Olmstead and Mitch Irvine were too much to handle. They finished with 30 and 24 kills respectively in the weekend’s matches. Meanwhile freshman setter Brett Walsh had 44 assists in both matches.

Both the men’s and women’s teams start the season 0-2 and will try to reverse the trend Nov. 2 and 3 when they head to Kelowna, B.C. to square off against the University of British Columbia Okanagan Heat.

—
Photo: Raisa Pezderic