Men's Volleyball Huskies clinch playoff spot in weekend sweep of Rustlers
The Keyano Huskies Men’s Volleyball team cleared their first hurdle of the season in Lloydminster, Alta. with hopes that their next trip to the Border City next month will yield similar positive results.
A weekend sweep of their host Lakeland College Rustlers by scores of 3-1 (24-26, 25-22, 27-25, 25-17) Friday and 3-0 (26-24, 25-22, 25-18) Saturday helped clinch the Huskies a spot in the upcoming 2025 ACAC Men’s Volleyball Championship and put them on the brink of another season as the top team in the North Division.
“It was nice to go into Lakeland and get those two wins against a really good team,” Head Coach Keegan Kuhr said. “Lakeland played us really well and I thought we played pretty well in the majority of the weekend.
“It was nice to get it done the way we did.”
Friday’s win was guided by 15 kills from Rafael Parada and 14 from João Cunha as the Huskies overcame the opening set loss to win the next three. Preston Yole was also key to the win with six kills and three aces from the service line.
Saturday, the team’s depth continued to play a stronger role with Brody Kopec registering 10 kills, his sixth double-digit kill game of the season. Cunha led the team with 11 and Parada added 10 more himself while Athus Silva had seven on his stat line by the end of the game.
“Obviously we have Joao, Rafael, and Athus, but I think Preston and Brody have stepped up in big moments this year to help us win games,” Kuhr continued. “We had to use Kai [Rosnau] and Cam [Calhoun] this weekend as well off the bench. Mike [Yole] came in and Seth [Gill] and Gage [Weinrauch] all came in and helped us at crucial moments of the match.
“Brody was good for us on the right side, but it just shows our depth as well. We had to use a few different guys in the few different situations. It was nice to see that.”
With their playoff spot confirmed, the Huskies have booked their spot in next month’s championships, set to be hosted by the Rustlers. Getting a trial run in the building was a plus in Kuhr’s books.
“They have a great crowd and I expect nothing less for provincials,” Kuhr said. “We’ve been talking about all year, we’ve circled this game obviously on our calendar, not only to go in and play a tough Lakeland team, but also knowing that’s where we’ll end up.
“It was nice on Friday to clinch a playoff spot and one away from clinching first. The atmosphere is great and I expect nothing less here in a couple weeks.”
Cunha records 1,000th kill of post-secondary career
The weekend’s results also saw Cunha surpass 1,000 kills for his legendary post-secondary career. Including 143 kills from his time with the Brandon University Bobcats of the Canada West conference, Cunha has recorded 867 career ACAC kills with the Huskies during his four seasons with four regular season games left in his career.
“It just shows how hard the guy works day in and day out,” Kuhr said. “He’s a true professional on and off the court. He cares not only about our team, but about his work ethic and he just tries do everything he can for our team.
“He’s been a huge piece of our program.”
Huskies set for bye week before hosting Vikings
The Huskies will end January with a bye week before getting set to host their final home games of the season. The Huskies will welcome the University of Alberta – Augustana Vikings to the Syncrude Sport & Wellness Centre on Friday, February 7 and Saturday, February 8.
First serve for the Women’s game is scheduled for 6:00pm Friday and 1:00pm Saturday with the Men’s game immediately following after.