With a 3-2 (25-27, 25-21, 25-22, 22-25, 18-16) win over the visiting No. 7 ranked University of Calgary Dinos Friday night at the PAC in Saskatoon, the University of Saskatchewan Huskies snapped a four match losing streak.
With the win, the Huskies improve to 2-5 on the season, while Calgary drops to 3-6. Saskatchewan hasn't won a set or a match since the first weekend of Canada West men's volleyball in October.
Outside hitter Paul Thomson led the Huskies with 21 kills, while Jordan Nowakowski, who returned to the lineup after missing four matches due to injury, tallied another 19. Rookie Colin Fraser recorded 11 kills in the win.
Keith West led Calgary's offence with a match-high 28 kills. Braden O'Toole was also strong recording 17. West also had eight digs and eight block assists in the match for Calgary.
Trading the first four sets - including a Calgary four-point comeback in the first set - in the match, the Dinos and Huskies battled point-for-point in the final frame. Tied nine times in the deciding set, Saskatchewan pulled away on a Thomson kill that the Dinos couldn't dig up. A West attack that sailed out of bounds ended the set 18-16.
Tied at 21 in the fourth frame after a Saskatchewan service error, Calgary pulled away after a Huskie attack error, a Sean Tuff kill and an O'Toole ace. O'Toole ended the set 25-22 to force a fifth deciding game.
In the second and third sets, Saskatchewan was able to pull away with long service runs by Zak Rempel and Nowakowski to earn a lead. Calgary couldn't close the gap and the Huskies won the third set 25-22 and the second set 25-21.
Down 24-19, the Dinos' Tuff froze Saskatchewan with an attack to give his team the ball. A Jackson Morris service run that included two Huskie errors, a block by West and Sean Martin and a West kill gave the Dinos a 25-24 lead. Saskatchewan tied the set on the next play, but O'Toole tallied twice in a row on attacks for the 27-25 win.
The two teams will meet again Saturday night at the PAC. First serve is slated for 8 p.m. and can be watched on canadawest.tv