Game Information
 
Date: Thursday, Feb. 20, Friday, Feb. 21 & Saturday, Feb. 22 (if necessary)
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Edmonton, Alta.
Venue: Saville Community Sports Centre
Watch: Canadawest.tv
 
SASKATOON – For the second-straight season, the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men's volleyball team is back in the big dance.
 
The seventh-seed Huskies earned their sixth postseason appearance of the last eight seasons and will take on the second-seed Alberta Golden Bears in a Canada West best-of-three quarter-final series.
 
Saskatchewan will have their hands full as they search for an upset victory against Alberta, who enter the postseason riding the longest win-streak in the Canada West. As victors of ten-straight, Alberta has not lost in the 2020 calendar year, with their last defeat coming back on Nov. 30, 2019 when they were swept by the UBC Thunderbirds.
 
The Golden Bears, who are one of four Canada West programs ranked inside the U SPORTS top ten, sit fourth in this week's rankings trailing only Trinity Western, McMaster and Montreal. Alberta, who have won seven conference championships and five national championships since the start of the century, is chasing their 20th consecutive appearance at the U SPORTS Championship.
 
However, punching a ticket to the illustrious national championship is even trickier this season with the Manitoba Bisons already having locked up a birth for the U SPORTS Championship thanks to being host, despite not qualifying for the conference postseason, meaning only two Canada West berths are up for grabs.
 
The Huskies officially clinched their postseason spot with a 3-1 win (18-25, 25-23, 25-22, 25-20) over Manitoba last Friday night, while solidying themselves their playoff ranking. The following night, Saskatchewan rolled a deep lineup in favour of resting several starters in the second half of the back-to-back, before falling in a five-set marathon.
 
Meanwhile, Alberta will also enter the weekend with fresh legs after receiving a bye in the final week of the regular season, as their most recent pair of clashes were in Saskatoon back on Feb. 7 and 8, sweeping the weekend-series over Saskatchewan.
 
While the Golden Bears has controlled the rivalry between the pair of conference foes in recent memory, the Huskies do have past success in Edmonton against the program after winning 3-2 (22-25, 25-20, 25-18, 15-25, 16-14) back on Jan. 25, 2019.
 
5 Things
 
1: The postseason meeting will serve as a matchup between a pair of head coaches in Sean McKay and Brock Davidiuk who each led their respective teams to the postseason in their first seasons at the helm of their programs.
 
2: The Huskies will enter the weekend with a trio of fifth-year athletes potentially suiting up for the program for the final time, as Daven Pascal, Daulton Sinoski and Cole Burkart will all exhaust their Canada West eligibility following the conclusion of the season, which they will be looking to prolong by at least another week with a series win this weekend. 
 
3: Burkart has stepped up into a massive role for the Huskies over the last month. The fifth-year athlete, who before Jan. 17 of this season had just ten kills in his one and a half seasons in the green and white, has been a force to be reckoned with. The Edmonton native, who has registered 107 kills over his last seven conference clashes and will be looking to make noise in his hometown.
 
4: Like Burkart, Levi Olson has stepped up into a significant role in the latter half of the season. Olson, a graduate of Centennial Collegiate in Saskatoon, failed to tally a kill in his first season with the program but has since recorded 78 over his last 11 matches.
 
5: On the Alberta side the team sits inside the top-five in the Canada West in several statistics including hitting percentage, service aces, and assists per-set, while also leading the conference in blocks-per-set.