Volleyball Huskies playoffs end in heartbreaker
Bryan Fraser’s last swing at success in Canada West playoffs ended in heartbreaking fashion.
Fraser did all he could to help the University of Saskatchewan Huskies in Canada West men’s volleyball playoff action against the Thompson Rivers University WolfPack in Kamloops. B.C., only to see a final attack just barely miss the mark.
In what proved to be his final match as a U of S Huskie, the graduating fifth-year hitter led with 15 kills and 10 digs.
It was not quite enough as Saskatchewan fell in extra points (22-20) during the deciding fifth set of a marathon match.
The Huskies had match point at their fingertips four times, but untimely service errors were their undoing.
No. 6-ranked Thompson Rivers survived with a 22-25, 25-23, 16-25, 25-18, 22-20 victory. It was the third and deciding game of a best-of-three series after No. 7 Saskatchewan forced a tiebreaker with a 25-19, 28-26, 25-15 win Friday.
Paul Thomson and Jordan Nowakowski each tallied 12 kills Saturday for the Huskies. Graduating team captain Braden McLean had six kills and four blocks in his final CIS match.
TRU will advance to the Canada West Final Four. The top two teams will qualify for the CIS championship Feb. 27-March 1 in Calgary.
The University of Saskatchewan will host the 2015 CIS men’s volleyball championship Feb. 26-28 at the PAC. The Huskies lose Fraser and McLean to graduation, but will regain redshirt Matthew Busse next season.
Men’s basketball
No. 10-ranked Saskatchewan dropped a 99-91 decision to No. 3-ranked University of Alberta (20-2) in Canada West men’s basketball Saturday.
The Huskies close out the regular season at 15-7, good enough for second in the Prairie Division and a playoff series at home, despite losing four of their last seven games.
The Dogs will host the Thompson Rivers University WolfPack in a best-of-three quarter-final series Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the PAC.
Stephon Lamar led the Huskies in scoring with 24 points, including 12 free throws. Dadrian Collins, who led Saskatchewan in scoring in a 82-60 loss Friday to the Alberta Golden Bears, added 22 points Saturday, while Matt Forbes and Ben Baker scored 18 and 12 points, respectively.
Forbes had 11 rebounds and Baker hauled in 10 boards for double-doubles as the Huskies out-rebounded Alberta 42-34.
The Huskies outscored the Bears 74-73 through the final three quarters after Alberta built up a 26-17 openingquarter lead.
Women’s basketball
The U of S Huskies pushed the hometown University of Alberta Pandas to the limit twice, but came up a little short both times, including an 82-75 overtime loss Friday and a 70-60 loss Saturday.
Antoinette Miller led the Huskies with 13 points Saturday.
Dalyce Emmerson had 12 points and nine rebounds before fouling out.
No. 6-ranked Saskatchewan needed to sweep No. 3 Alberta to earn a Canada West home playoff series. Instead, the Huskies (17-5) will finish third in the Prairie Division and will travel to Vancouver, B.C. to play the UBC Thunderbirds, who finished second in the Pacific Division. Their best-ofthree CW quarter-final goes Feb. 28-March 2.