‘The championship is the goal:’ Huskie volleyball takes national stage

A national title is still in the sights of the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s volleyball squad as it heads to Hamilton for the 2023 U Sports championship.

The Huskies qualified after defeating the University of Calgary Dinos in the Canada West bronze-medal match last Friday.

At the beginning of the season, making it to a national championship was one of the goals for the Huskies. Saskatchewan will be the third team representing Canada West at the tournament after champion University of Alberta Golden Bears beat the Trinity Western University Spartans in the final.

“Kudos to (the Huskies players). Kudos to the staff for putting the work in and accomplishing their goal,” head coach Sean McKay said.

After qualifying for nationals Friday, the Huskies didn’t know who they would be playing until Sunday, when seeding was finalized.

They’ll have a tough test ahead of them when the Huskies face their hosts, the McMaster University Marauders.

“We’ve played in front of some rowdy crowds to get here,” McKay said. “They might have been cheering for us instead of against us, but I think it’s all about how we manage that (and) see that opportunity as a challenge and something to learn from.”

That won’t be the only adjustment McKay and his team will have to make, as they will also have to mentally prepare to face some of the country’s top teams and adjust their clocks to Eastern Standard Time.

McKay said playing in Canada West always means there are some hectic travel days, so his team is used to it.

“I’d much rather a three-hour direct flight to Toronto with a small drive than a nine-hour bus ride to Manitoba and play the next day,” he said.

While there will be many factors affecting the weekend, the Huskies may have found themselves on the favourable side of the draw, avoiding the No. 1 team.

Top-seeded Alberta is on the other side of the bracket, meaning the Huskies would only play the Golden Bears if both sides make it to the final. Recently, the teams faced each other in the Canada West semifinal, so the Huskies would have recent game plans to draw from if the two teams ended up facing off.

But it doesn’t get much easier on the Huskies’ side of the bracket. Saskatchewan will play McMaster, which was the Ontario University Athletics champion for a second straight season.
In the other quarterfinal on the Huskies’ side of the bracket, Trinity Western – a team Saskatchewan beat earlier in the season – will play Carabins de l’Université de Montréal, who went 11-5 on the season and were finalists in the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec conference.

While there are a number of obstacles ahead, McKay said he just wants his guys to show how strong of a team they are.

“The goal is, obviously, to win that championship, but if we can show the country how much we fight, how resilient we are, and how much we love playing the game with each other and this team, I think we’re going to be in a pretty good spot,” McKay said.

A national championship this weekend would be the fifth in program history, after wins in 1978-79, 1987-88, 1998-99 and 2003-04.

The Huskies will make their way to Ontario early Wednesday morning and have a day of practice before the quarterfinal match against McMaster on Friday at 4 p.m.