The past two weekends of play have seen the men’s volleyball team go 4–0 while the women’s squad has lost four straight.
On Nov. 7 and 8, the University of Calgary Dinos were in town to take on the Huskie volleyball teams. The first night of competition for the women didn’t go according to plan as they dropped three straight sets (25–16, 25–23, 25–11) to lose the first half of the weekend series. Kayla Tycholiz led the team in kills and blocks with eight and four, respectively.
The following night, the Dogs put in a much better effort but were beaten three sets to one (25–19, 24–26, 25–20, 25–22). They had chances in the third and fourth set but could not capitalize against the ninth ranked Dinos. Tallying 13 kills, 12 digs and two serving aces, Anna Hanbidge led the Huskies with a big game. Emmalyn Copping and Jenelle Sokolski each chipped in with 10 kills in the losing cause.
The men had better luck at the PAC over the same weekend versus the Dinos. On the Friday night they won an excellent match three sets to two (25–27, 25–21, 25–22, 22–25, 18–16) for the team’s first win since early October. Veteran Paul Thomson was key to victory as he recorded 21 kills in the win. Rookie Colin Fraser and Jordan Nowakowski were also a big part of the victory with 19 and 11 kills respectively.
Aiming to build on the success from the previous night, the Dogs once again welcomed the seventh ranked Dinos. Using a strong first and second set, the home side built a 2–0 lead before ultimately pulling out a 3–1 win (25–23, 25–17, 22–25, 25–23) and more importantly a sweep of the weekend set. The power duo of Thomson and Nowakowski combined for 32 kills, 13 digs, two blocks and three serving aces.
Following the weekend, both the men and the women sat at 3–5 and a had a week off school to prepare for the upcoming matches against the University of British Columbia Okanagan Heat in Kelowna, B.C.
Nov. 14 and 15 would see the Huskies square off against the Heat and the women’s squad again struggled. A 3–1 (25–22, 25–17, 23–25, 25–14) loss would be third in a row for the women’s team who continued to slide down the Canada West conference standings. Copping was again the prominent figure on the Huskies attack as she hammered 25 kills and added eight digs.
Entering the weekend ranked sixth in the country, the Heat again proved their dominance with a convincing 3–0 (25–18, 25–10, 25–17) win over the sputtering Huskies. A meager .029 hitting percentage was the Dogs’ demise as they would lose their fourth straight contest and drop to 3–7 on the season. It was a poor effort all-around as not a single Huskie cracked double digits in any stat category. Heading into play this weekend, the Huskies’ women sit in 12th place in the conference, with only the top seven teams advancing to playoffs.
The men looked to continue their scorching hot play when they took on the Heat as well. The first match of the weekend would see a straight sets win for the Dogs as they took the game by a score of 25–20, 25–17, 25–17. Thomson again sparked the attack as he had 14 kills as well as seven digs and three serving aces. Nowakowski was second in both kills and digs with 10 and five, respectively.
Next evening was more of the same as the Huskies didn’t lose a set all weekend with a (25–22, 25–19, 25–21) win and a second consecutive weekend sweep. The loss is the 12th straight for the Heat to begin the year and the Dogs evened their record at 5–5. Thomson was the man again in the match with 20 more kills. Nowakowski added 12 kills and three serving aces.
Both the men and women’s teams will hit the road once again with a weekend series in Edmonton at MacEwan University. Games are scheduled for Nov. 21 and 22 at 6:15 p.m. for the women and 8 p.m. for the men.