SASKATOON – The Thompson Rivers WolfPack made them work for it but in the end the host Saskatchewan Huskies were too much to handle in a 3-2 (20-25, 19-25, 25-21, 27-25, 15-9) victory on Saturday night.
 
Fighting back from an early 2-0 deficit, the Huskies won the final three sets, including a dominant performance in the fifth.
 
"We put ourselves in a situation where we had to battle back, myself included," said Huskies head coach Sean McKay. "We need to be executing better and more consistently so that we are not in that position, it's awesome to see guys come together and win but we need to be more consistent."
 
The win sends the Huskies into the winter break with a record of 6-6, while the WolfPack fall to 2-8 through their first ten games.
 
Dylan Mortensen and Daulton Sinoski led the way offensively for Saskatchewan, finishing the night with 22 and 17 kills respectively. CJ Gavlas was the catalyst making the offence work, recording 42 assists on the night.
 
"CJ was able to get a lot out of his teammates, he stayed level-headed when things got pretty tough and then he was able to kill with location and simplicity," said McKay.
 
For TRU it was the rookie Brody Kopec who took charge. The first year from Red Deer led his team with 22 kills while Sam Taylor Parks racked up seven blocks.
 
After the teams traded the first two sets it was all Huskies in the fifth.
 
Fifth year Daulton Sinoski had five kills as the Huskies stormed back from an early 4-2 hole to roll to the 15-9 victory.
 
This was the final game for both teams before the winter break. Saskatchewan will be back in action when they host the MacEwan Griffins January 3 and 4 while the WolfPack will travel to Winnipeg to take on the Wesmen on those very same dates.