Keyano Huskies Weekend Preview: Playoff position the focus as Huskies and Wolves renew northern rivalry
Crunch time is here for the Keyano Huskies. The Volleyball Huskies have two more weekends of action left to confirm their positioning ahead of playoffs while the Basketball Huskies have three weekends left in their regular season. It's a renewal of the northern Alberta rivalry as the Huskies and Northwestern Polytechnic Wolves do battle in Fort McMurray and Grande Prairie. The season series between the Huskies and Wolves has been one-sided to date with a 4-0 record on the soccer pitch and a 2-0 record on the futsal court.
Women's Basketball
Matchup: NWP Wolves (1-11, Seventh in ACAC North Division) vs. Keyano Huskies (5-9, Fifth in ACAC North Division)
Location: Syncrude Sport & Wellness Centre
Schedule: Friday at 6:00 PM MT & Saturday at 1:00 PM MT
Viewing Options: ACAC TV & Telus Optik 1998
Last weekend: The Keyano Huskies got a glimpse of the undefeated Lakeland Rustlers, falling to the Rustlers twice. They did show a stronger performance on the Saturday though, losing by just 11 points and even winning the first quarter against them by a 15-12 margin.
Matchup: It's been a back-and-forth season for the Women's Basketball Huskies, who have split each weekend of the regular season outside of their matchups against the Lakeland Rustlers and TKU Eagles. As the final games of the regular season against the ACAC North Division, as a team on the playoff bubble, and against an opponent below them in the standings, the time is right for them to deliver their first weekend sweep of the season. Solid starts on both days will be the key to not allowing the Wolves into each game.
Key performer: Emma Tomchuk was dialled in on Saturday against the Rustlers, scoring a season-high 19 points and making five of the Huskies' seven three-point shots in the contest. Despite that, the Huskies have the third-fewest three-point shots made of any ACAC team this season. It's not the only key to success on the court, but consider a team like this week's opponents in NWP have made 64 on the season. The team that has the hot hand from beyond the arc could come out on top regardless of how the teams look on paper going into the matchups and Tomchuk will be a big part of the Huskies' success in that area.
Men's Basketball
Matchup: NWP Wolves (6-6, Fourth in ACAC North Division) vs. Keyano Huskies (13-1, First in ACAC North Division)
Location: Syncrude Sport & Wellness Centre
Schedule: Friday at 8:00 PM MT & Saturday at 3:00 PM MT
Viewing Options: ACAC TV & Telus Optik 1998
Last weekend: A weekend sweep of the Lakeland Rustlers in Lloydminster confirmed that the Huskies can top the division for a fourth-straight season (COVID excluded) if they win out the rest of their games. Omeechi Williams average 22 points per game over the weekend set and rose to a tie for fourth in the conference for points per game. He also surpassed his previous career high for points in a single season and broke the 300-point barrier for the first time in his career with six games to go. Evan Meyer put together a season-high 21-point performance in Saturday's win, topping his previous high of 20.
Matchup: The Huskies have already clinched a playoff spot and can finish no lower than fourth in the division, but the challenge to officially clinch first continues against a team battling for positioning of their own. The Wolves are fourth with the NAIT Ooks two points behind them in the standings. The Wolves' record also isn't that indicative of their performance after narrow losses to SAIT, NAIT, and Concordia. The Huskies should expect a similar challenge on Friday and Saturday.
Key performer: DJ Haynes. If we're talking about setting new season-high totals, Haynes is 11 points off from matching the performance of his rookie season with the Huskies in 2022-23. The Huskies have also utilized his minutes more this season with Haynes averaging 0.214 field goals per minute of action this year compared to 0.148 in 2022-23. He's shown up with 10 double-digit performances in 14 games this season and will be looking to continue that form as the season transitions into playoffs.
Women's Volleyball
Matchup: NWP Wolves (4-8, Seventh in ACAC North Division) vs. Keyano Huskies (5-10, Fifth in ACAC North Division)
Location: Grande Prairie, Alta.
Schedule: Friday at 6:00 PM MT & Saturday at 1:00 PM MT
Viewing Options: ACAC TV & Telus Optik 1998
Last weekend: The Huskies faced the defending CCAA National Champions on the home court at the SSWC, taking a pair of straight-set losses. Both matches started out with strong first sets from the Huskies, but the Rustlers tightened their stranglehold on the game in the second and third sets to secure the wins.
Matchup: It doesn't get more simple than this weekend for the Women's Volleyball Huskies than understanding that they need four wins from their final four games and a little bit of help from other results to put themselves into the last playoff spot in the North Division. That includes beating the Wolves twice, who are just two points behind the Huskies but have played three fewer games to date. Winning these matches would serve a double effect in not only raising their own standing but placing distance between themselves and one of the two teams below them in the division.
Key performer: Amanda Onyeukwu has provided a strong presence to the Huskies in her rookie season, totalling 101 kills and 27 blocks while starting 13 of the team's 15 games. It's a budding start to Onyeukwu's ACAC career and one that has the Huskies fourth in the conference in blocks. In the final two weekends of the season, the play of Onyeukwu will be key to the Huskies' success.
Men's Volleyball
Matchup: NWP Wolves (6-6, Fifth in ACAC North Division) vs. Keyano Huskies (10-2, First in ACAC North Division)
Location: Grande Prairie, Alta.
Schedule: Friday at 8:00 PM MT & Saturday at 3:00 PM MT
Viewing Options: ACAC TV & Telus Optik 1998
Last weekend: In a big weekend at home, the Huskies swept away the visiting Lakeland Rustlers, which opens the door a little wider for the Huskies to clinch the top spot in the ACAC's North Division a feat they haven't accomplished since 2018-19. That's far from guaranteed at this point, but gives the Huskies extra incentive down the stretch.
Matchup: While it's been a bit of a given based off their record, a win Friday would mathematically confirm the Huskies' spot in the ACAC Championship in Olds, Alta. in February with only positioning to decide. That would mark their eighth-straight trip to the ACAC Championship/Playoffs, a run that began in 2015-16. The Wolves aren't pushovers by any means though, having taken a set off the RDP Kings, gone the distnace with the Briercrest Clippers, and split a weekend with the Ooks.
Key performer: Noah Gagné. The Huskies's success with the likes of João Cunha, Rafael Parada, Athus Silva, and Preston Yole and other offensive threats is well documented this year, but it's easy to overlook the guy feeding them the ball. In Gagné's second season, the Winnipeg, Man. product has taken the reins of the setter position with 549 assists, with his 9.80 assists per set leading the entire conference. Having Gagné continue to accuratley supply the offensive stars of the Huskies will play a large part in setting (no pun intended) the tone for each match.