Huskies left-side hitter Bryan Fraser leads the team in spikes, averaging more than three per set.

After dismal seasons last year, both the Huskies men’s and women’s volleyball teams started the 2012-13 season expecting to improve their record. Now halfway through the season, the men have proven themselves to be a stronger team than last year while the women still struggle to find the win column.

At this time last year the men’s team was holding a 1-9 record. Now they proudly boast a 7-5 record. Four of the team’s five losses were against squads that have been ranked among the nations top three teams all season.

“Our first semester has been really tough,” the team’s setter Chris Gilbert said. “We’ve had to play against a lot of top teams in the country and had a lot of hard work. That hard work has paid off with a four-game winning streak going into the Christmas break.”

Gilbert is second in the conference in assisted points this season. His experience as a fifth-year player, combined with the experience of all the returning players from last season, has helped strengthen the team in the long five-set matches that they struggled to win in the 2011-12 season.

Last year they finished the season 1-8 in fifth-set matches. The squad sports a 2-1 record in the same category so far this season.

The Dogs currently hold down the sixth playoff position and will return to league action Jan. 11 and 12 at home to face the 5-7 Thompson River WolfPack.

During the break, the team will try to stay in game form with a pair of exhibition matches against the International Budo University on Dec. 28 and 29. The match up will be a reversal of roles from early September, when the Huskies men’s squad were hosted by IBU in a pre-season training trip to Japan. This time, IBU will make the ocean-crossing journey.

Coach Brian Gavlas says the exhibition will be a good opportunity for the team to work on a few key areas that he feels needs to be addressed before next semester.

“We want to keep on competing… and hopefully improve our blocking, toughen up our serving and improve our defence to the stage where we are really tough to play against.”

In contrast with the improved men’s squad, the Huskies women’s volleyball team has not experienced the success they hoped the new faces would bring at the beginning of the season.

After last year’s winless campaign, the team brought in nine new players to rebuild the team. It has been a slow transition for the team so far. The squad is currently in second-last place in the league and sporting a 1-11 mid-season record.

“We’re still progressing,” Huskies head coach Jason Grieve said. “We’ve had the hardest schedule of any Canada West women’s volleyball team in terms of travelling and difficulty of competition.”

While the coach and team try to remain optimistic, the statistics show otherwise. The squad lost 3-1 in the first three matches of the year before picking up their one and only win of the season against UBC on Nov. 3. Since that time the team has lost eight straight matches without winning a single set.

One week before the team returns to league action they will attempt to swing the momentum of their season by competing in an exhibition tournament in Alberta. There the Huskies will play some of the top teams in the Canada West as well as a few visiting Japanese volleyball teams.

On Jan. 11 and 12 the squad returns to regular season play against the 0-12 Thompson River WolfPack.

The Calgary Dinos currently hold the final playoff spot, sporting a .500 win-loss record. With 10 matches remaining in the season, the Dogs would have to win every one in order to level their own record and have any shot at a playoff spot.

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Photo: Raisa Pezderic/The Sheaf