Men's volleyball Huskies top Rustlers in five-set thriller

If there was a definition for a resilient win in the dictionary, it would draw from Friday's five-set (20-25, 22-25, 25-13, 25-18, 15-13) thrilling victory for the Keyano Huskies men's volleyball team.

Down two sets to the Lakeland Rustlers, the Huskies pulled off wins in the third and fourth sets before claiming a win in a tight fifth set to earn their first victory of the season.

"We could have easily packed it in," said head coach Keegan Kuhr. "Going down 0-2 to Lakeland, a very good team. [We] made a few changes and a few guys came in and I think it just shows the depth of our team and we came in and we executed and we were just a little bit better in that fifth set, which was a really tight fifth set.

"I'm proud of the boys. We've got to take as many positives as we can out of this game."

While the Huskies fell victim to some early errors, they found their footing and managed to keep momentum on their side, especially in a high-intensity fifth set.

Part of that calming presence was of Cameron Visscher, who finished with seven kills, nine digs, and three service aces as well as a block.

"We did not want to start the season 0-3," said Visscher. "I was just trying to bring the energy for the guys. I tried talking as much as I could and getting in covering during plays just screaming at guys and trying to get them excited."

Visscher added that he thought the team limited their errors to the norm for a volleyball game and worked through the lulls to keep coming back successfully.

Travis Walls tallied 11 kills, four digs and two blocks. In his Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) debut, Carlos Costa played an intimidating role with four kills and three blocks.

Even down two sets to none, Kuhr didn't feel like his team was doing that badly and kept faith in his players to correct the course of the match.

"Lakeland was just a little bit crisper in their passing and they were a little bit crisper in their serving," noted Kuhr. "We just need to pass the ball a little better, serve a little bit more aggressive.

"Once we do that, the block [defence] is going to come and it did. I'm happy to see us respond."

Kuhr also gave credit to Visscher for the leadership role he played in helping keep the team on course out on the court.

"Cameron has been with the program for a long time and he really just went out there and owned it and led us today," continued Kuhr. "I'm really proud of what Cameron was able to provide on the court. He's been a great leader and a good role model for the team.

"It was nice to see all that hard work off the court pay off on the court."

The men's volleyball Huskies take on the Rustlers in a rematch Saturday at the Syncrude Sport and Wellness Centre at 1:00 p.m.