The Huskies are in a tight playoff race and need two big wins vs. TRU.

After months of off-season preparation, training camp, long practices and and 22 regular season games, it all comes down to one weekend for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s volleyball team.

The squad finds itself with a 12–10 record and in sixth place in the Canada West standings, with the top seven teams qualifying for the post-season. Their weekend matchup happens to be the eighth place, 11–11 Thompson Rivers University WolfPack. A pair of wins at home for the Huskies will clinch them a spot in the playoffs. A loss or two and things will get messy with five teams competing for the final three playoff spots, all separated by only two points.

Thompson Rivers will enter the weekend full of confidence, having won their past six matches. Their key lies within their offensive attack as right hitter and reigning Canada West MVP Brad Gunter leads the CanWest conference in kills per set with 4.56 and outside hitter Casey Knight joins him in the top 10 with a 3.37 average.

“We have to execute our game plan. They have some good attackers and I think if we slow them down we will have a pretty good chance to succeed this weekend,” fifth-year right hitter Matthew Busse said.

Busse will be a key factor to the winning formula for the Huskies as he ranks third on the team in kills and blocks, despite missing eight games due to injury. He, along with Paul Thomson and Jordan Nowakowski, will be heavily relied on to carry the attack as the three veteran hitters make up the majority of the team’s offence.

For Thomson and Busse, it will be their final regular season games at home on Feb. 6 and 7 and they would love nothing more than to finish off their careers with some wins.

“It’s always special playing in front of our home crowd, but with it being the last regular season games and all, it will be extra special,” Busse said.

It will be the first meeting of the season between the two schools and they aren’t separated by much on paper. Kills per set, assists per set, digs per set and blocks per set are all relatively even, with Saskatchewan holding a slight advantage in all four categories.

The last time these two teams met was in the quarter-finals of last years playoffs with the WolfPack ending the Huskies’ season in dramatic fashion. With the series tied at 1–1, the Huskies took a 2–1 lead in game three before Thompson Rivers stormed all the way back to stun the Dogs with a thrilling 22–20 win in the fifth and deciding set.

Despite being in the thick of a playoff race, the Huskies have already qualified for the CIS Men’s National Championships as hosts when they take place right here in Saskatoon on Feb. 26–28. Being national hosts and missing playoffs would be quite the situation, but Busse says the team doesn’t feel any added pressure.

“Our goal all year has been to get into playoffs, but we’re going to be in nationals anyway so we can relax, play loose and just focus on this weekend,” Busse said.

The other teams fighting for the final playoff berths are the University of Manitoba Bisons (12–10), the Mount Royal University Cougars (11–11) and the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds (11–11). Add the Huskies (12–10) and WolfPack (11–11) to the mix and its suddenly a crowded picture. For the Dogs, however, the math is simple: win and you’re in.

The pivotal matches will take place on Feb. 6 and 7 with first serve scheduled for 8 p.m. on both evenings at the Physical Activity Complex. The women’s team will play beforehand on both nights with their games getting underway at 6 p.m.

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Photo: Katherine Fedoroff/Photo Editor