SASKATOON – Trailing by five points late in the fourth set, the University of Saskatchewan Huskies roared back to claim the set and match victory by a score of 3-1 (18-25, 25-13, 25-22, 25-23) over the visiting UBC Thunderbirds on Friday night.
 
While the Thunderbirds were the more effective team offensively, putting up 41 kills to the Huskies' 29, the visitors couldn't get out of their own way on the night, recording 29 service errors in the game.
 
Dylan Mortensen paced the Huskies with 10 kills, followed Daulton Sinoski with seven. CJ Gavlas put up 23 assists in the victory.
 
Matt Neaves had 11 kills and Coltyn Liu nine for the Thunderbirds.
 
The Thunderbirds took the first set thanks in large part to the .316 hitting percentage, their highest of any set in the game. Multiple long runs at the service line allowed UBC to pull out to a 19-11 lead en route to the set victory of 25-18.
 
 The Huskies would bounce back to dominate the second set however and never trailed after an early 1-1 tie to breeze their way to a 25-13 victory.
 
A back-and-forth third set swung Saskatchewan's way late. Leading 19-18, the Huskies would make just one error the rest of the way in the frame, allowing them to grab momentum with a 25-22 victory and a 2-1 set lead heading into the fourth.
 
With UBC leading 20-16 it appeared the game was destined for a fifth and final set before Saskatchewan rose to the occasion late. Connor Murray and Sinoski combined for seven of the next nine points to give the Huskies a 23-22 advantage and their first lead since the first point of the set.
 
From there a kill by Mortensen and massive swing from Daven Pascal finished off the game, allowing Saskatchewan to record their second victory in a row.
 
Both of these teams are back in action tomorrow, Oct. 26 in a game slated to start at 5:00 p.m. inside the PAC.