The Keyano Huskies Men’s Volleyball team got back into the swing of things with a two-game exhibition set in California, challenging the Concordia University Irvine Golden Eagles and Vanguard University Lions last week. 
 
Despite losing both games in straight sets, the Huskies challenged hard in Tuesday’s match against the Golden Eagles, dropping the first two sets 28-30 and 23-25. 
 
“The first two sets, it was decent volleyball,” Head Coach Keegan Kuhr said. “I’m not sure if I’m ready to say good because we didn’t pull out either one of those sets. 

“We were in them, we were close, but we couldn’t close. It was nice to come back in that first set, being down four [points]. Not pulling it out kind of killed a lot of the momentum.” 

With a shortened roster for the trip, the Huskies still had strong performances from Trey Weinmeier, who had 11 kills to lead his side in their opening match. Radek Brzozowski and Preston Yole each had six kills as part of the match. Brzozowski added a team-high seven digs while Noah Gagné recorded 20 assists. 

“In the third set, they went on a run; we didn’t press back,” Kuhr added. “All in all, not bad, but I think we could’ve played a little bit better.  
 
“We’ll take the good stuff; we’ll build off of it and hopefully we’ll bring some of that stuff to Vanguard [Wednesday].”  
 
While the end result wasn’t of total importance for the Huskies, seeing his team battle in their first games back for the new year was a positive sign to Kuhr.  
 
“I just wanted them to compete, work hard, and I think that was there,” he added. “We had a good practice yesterday and we competed for those first two sets.  
 
“All in all, I was happy with the effort.”  
 
The Huskies return to action for the second half with a trip to the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference’s South Division this coming weekend, taking on the Lethbridge College Kodiaks and Ambrose Lions. They’ll return home on January 27-28, hosting the University of Alberta – Augustana Vikings at the Syncrude Sport & Wellness Centre.