The Huskies men’s volleyball team got the monkey off their back, recording their first win of the season against the Manitoba Bisons.

The Huskies men’s volleyball team started their weekend series against the University of Manitoba Bisons off right, earning their first win of the season on Nov. 8 in Winnipeg. The team wasn’t able to add another tally to the win column as they fell to the Bisons on Nov. 9. The Huskies are now 1-5 on the season.

The Dogs had to fight hard for their first win, needing all five sets to down the Bisons 24-26, 25-21, 21-25, 25-21 and 15-12.

The opening set was error-laden, as both sides struggled with service errors. The teams were close for most of the set, with neither squad able to maintain a significant lead. It wasn’t until the closing stretch that the Bisons were able to grab control. A service error from middle Tyler Epp was costly for the Huskies and gifted the Bisons with a set point. A colossal kill from Bison Adam DeJonckheere gave the home side the opener 26-24.

The Huskies used scrambling defense to frustrate the Bisons and take the lead 24-20 late in the second set. This time it was the Bisons’ turn to stumble as an attack error from DeJonckheere secured the set for the Dogs and the teams headed into the third tied at one set all.

The Bisons stole back the momentum in the third set, taking it 25-21 thanks to precision blocking of the Huskies’ attack.

Down two sets to one the Huskies began to cut down their errors, putting the pressure to come up with big hits squarely on the home side. The tactic worked and the Bisons began to make costly mistakes. Tied at 21, two kills from Huskies’ Bryan Fraser, another from Paul Thomson and a Bison error levelled the match at two sets apiece.

In the deciding set the Huskies found themselves with a 14-11 lead after a Bison service error gave the Dogs the ball. The home side quickly got the ball back and saved a match point after a kill from Devren Dear. The Huskies called a timeout and came back with a Jordan Nowakowski kill to take the fifth and win their first contest of the season.

Thomson led the Huskies with 16 kills and 13 digs while Fraser recorded 13 kills and 10 digs.

Fortunes were reversed in the second match when the Bisons snuck out a five setter after staving off a Huskies comeback win 25-21, 25-19, 23-25, 13-25 and 15-12.

The opening set could have gone either way until at 20-20 two service aces from the Bisons’ Luke Herr gave the home side a 22-20 lead. The Huskies got one point back off of Thomson’s kill but the Bisons quickly closed the set 25-21 courtesy of DeJonckheere’s kill and two Huskie errors.

The Bisons continued their strong form in the second set, launching solid attacks that the Huskies couldn’t dig up. Down 16-22, the Dogs made a comeback push but were stopped short at 19-23 when another two service aces from Herr gave the Bisons a 2-0 set lead.

The Huskies stalled the Bisons’ momentum by stealing the third set 25-23. The Dogs won the set on a kill from Jordan Nowakowski.

The Bisons had clearly lost their way in the fourth set as the Huskies outpaced them by as many as 12 points The Huskies took the fourth 25-13 and levelled the match at two sets all, forcing a deciding fifth set for the second night in a row.

Tied at nine all in the final set, the Bisons took the next three points to gain a 12-9 advantage to the delight of the home crowd. The Huskies fought hard but found themselves down match point at 12-14. A kill from Dear stopped the Huskies in their tracks and gave the Bisons the win.

Thomson and Fraser led the Huskies for the second night with 14 and 13 kills respectively.

The Huskies play the University of British Columbia Okanagan Heat on Nov. 15 and 16 in the Physical Activity Complex.

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Photo: Raisa Pezderic