Men's Volleyball Huskies set focus on top spot in ACAC North amid roster revamping
It was an off-season of change for the Keyano Huskies Men’s Volleyball team. The program bid adieu to a senior group featuring five Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) All-Conference recipients among others that had made the program conference contenders for the past half decade.
However, amid the change, the focus or expectations have yet to waiver with Head Coach Keegan Kuhr who was aggressive in recruiting for the 2025-26 season. In it, he’s hoping to ensure a third-straight season at the top of the ACAC North Division, a strong showing at conference championships, and potentially a trip down to Edmonton for this year’s national championship, hosted by the NAIT Ooks.
“I mean, our preseason obviously was better the second time around,” Kuhr said. “We're just trying to build off some of those principles that we've been working on.
“t's been nice to have a little bit of an extended break, getting the bye week early, I think for how young we are has just helped us continue to improve day-to-day.
“[We’re] excited and happy to get things going here.”
The first challenge will be one their longest road trip within the division when they mosey on over to Grande Prairie to take on the Northwestern Polytechnic Wolves. Despite their opposition finishing outside of the playoff picture last year, Kuhr wants his side ready for what they’ll bring.
“I want us to compete hard,” added Kuhr. "NWP did a good job of putting together a pretty good roster. I think we have to be ready. Obviously it's a long travel, we’ve got to get there early, we’ve got to get in the gym. We’ve got to make sure that we're strong on our first contact, strong from behind the service lines, strong behind past
“I think if we can do both those two things early and often we should find success this weekend.”
Guiding the Huskies’ offence will be returning outside hitters Rafael Parada Lima and fifth year Bordy Kopec. The team will also look to transfers like Jake Butt, Noah Rigney, and Kalan Sawchuk, student-athletes with previous post-secondary experience, to pick up where last year’s squad left off.
“At the end of the day, we've been a program that's been able to switch guys in and out fairly quickly,” continued Kuhr. “Losing all those senior guys is going to still make things a little bit tougher than they were last year, but at the end of the day, the expectations and the goals are still very high with this program.”
After their weekend in Grande Prairie, the Huskies will return home for their home openers against the Red Deer Polytechnic Kings and Olds College Broncos Friday, October 31 and Saturday, November 1. First serve is scheduled for 6:00pm on both nights at the Syncrude Sport & Wellness Centre with the Women’s game first followed by the Men.