WINNIPEG – The University of Manitoba Bisons fell to the Saskatchewan Huskies for a second night in a row in four sets (25-21, 18-25, 15-25, 16-25) inside the Investors Group Athletic Centre to conclude the Canada West regular season schedule.
After taking the first set in Friday's match, Manitoba once again got off to a good start taking the first set on Saturday night. However, the Huskies were able to once again string together three straight set victories Saturday and take down the hosts to complete the weekend sweep.
"We felt confident coming into tonight but unfortunately had another slow start," said Saskatchewan head coach Mark Dodds. "It was nice to see us be able to turn things around quickly in the second set and continued to play a strong game the rest of the way."
The win sees the Huskies end the regular season with a record of 14-10, their highest win total since claiming 16 victories in the 2001-02 season. Saskatchewan finished the regular season in sixth place and will now head to Edmonton for a conference quarter-final series with the Alberta Pandas Thursday to Saturday.
The Bisons began the opening set on a 5-0 run but only held a 16-14 advantage at the first technical timeout. Saskatchewan kept it close but down 24-21, Kearley Abbott's service ace gave Manitoba the first set 25-21.
After hold a 16-12 lead at the break, the Huskies cruised to a second set victory by a final score of 25-18. Saskatchewan's Emily Koshinsky led her squad with five kills in the set to even the match up at one a piece.
For a second straight set, Saskatchewan was up 16-12 at the timeout. The visitors dominated the rest of the way and sealed the third set 25-15 after a Manitoba block from Laura Hill ended up out of bounds. It was once again Koshinsky leading the way for the Huskies with seven more kills in the third, including a service ace on the 24th point.
Saskatchewan held their biggest lead at the time of a technical timeout in the fourth, leading Manitoba 16-9. That lead proved to be too much for the Bisons to overcome as the Huskies captured the fourth and final set of the match by a final score of 25-16.
Koshinsky finished the match with a total of 21 kills while the Herd were led by Hill and Abbott who each tallied ten.
