Women's Volleyball Huskies still looking forward after first defeat of season
Even with their first setback of the season, the Keyano Huskies Women’s Volleyball team are encouraged by the pathway ahead of them as their first half of the season nears a close.
Another trip to the South Division produced a weekend split with a straight-sets victory against the Lethbridge Polytechnic Kodiaks Friday and a four-set loss against the SAIT Trojans Saturday.
“I thought we were a little slow to get started on Friday, but we came around pretty quickly,” Head Coach Tommy Sloan said. “We were able to put some service pressure on them and get the job done. Saturday, we were also slow to get started and unfortunately we never really got going from the service line especially.
“We missed a lot of first serves and it prevented us from generating any momentum.”
Friday’s win against the Kodiaks saw the Huskies challenged early by their hosts, who took the first set to its final points with a 25-20 score for the Huskies. The second set was a dominating run that ended in a 25-14 advantage for the Huskies before they closed things out with a 25-21 win in set three.
Taya McCarthy led the Huskies with nine kills, one ahead of teammate Amanda Onyeukwu. Five other Huskies contributed the remaining 14 kills in a 31-kill performance for the Huskies. Karlene Kaminski led the Huskies with six digs, one ahead of McCarthy and Erika Box.
From the service line, the Huskies added 12 aces, four from the hand of Onyeukwu as well as two-ace performances from Makala Wideman, Milan Schapowal, and Kaminski.
Saturday, the Huskies took their first loss as slow starts cost them early in the first, third, and fourth sets. While they wrangled 45 kills in the performance, 18 errors from the service line and 15 attack errors didn’t make for a winning formula on that particular night.
“Losses are going to happen and learning how to adjust, learning how to bounce back is important,” Sloan continued. “Going into a bye week, we’ve got a little extra time to put those things to work before we see Briercrest.”
McCarthy and Kaminski continued their strong play with 16 and 13 kills, respectively. Box collected 35 assists while a trio of Huskies in Kaminski, Onyeukwu, and Drew Jacobson each secured double-digit digs for the visiting Huskies.
The run of games against the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference’s (ACAC) South Division concludes after a bye week with home games against the Briercrest Clippers and Medicine Hat College Rattlers.
That will lead into the second half of the season against solely North Division competition. While the Huskies sit solidly at 6-1, the top four teams in the North are only separated by four points at the moment.
The Huskies return to the home court Thursday, November 28 and Saturday, November 30 at the Syncrude Sport & Wellness Centre. The first serve for both games is scheduled for 6:00pm.