The Keyano Huskies Women’s Volleyball team provided another straight sets result on their home court Saturday at the Syncrude Sport & Wellness Centre in Fort McMurray, Alta., topping the University of Alberta – Augustana Vikings in three sets (25-10, 25-11, 25-14) to close out a perfect weekend.
“After beating them three nothing [Friday] night, we wanted to do the exactly the same thing [Saturday] and we definitely improved in a lot of different areas around the court as well,” Head Coach Hayden Nichol said. “It was a big weekend for us after what happened last week and to bounce back against a nationally-ranked team with two sweeps at home.
“Just to continue our dominance at home is fantastic.”
An 11-kill performance from Megan Polant pushed the Huskies to victory in the match as she surpassed 500 kills for her career in the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA), which began with the Columbia Bible College Bearcats of the Pacific Western Athletics Association (PACWEST).
"She really stepped up for us [Friday] night as well in the third set when we were down and needed a little bit of a come back to win,” Nichol said. “She’s been a really consistent player for us all season and is really showing her veteran status on the court.”
Polant was soaking in the moment, appreciating the different competition she’s been able to play throughout her post-secondary career while also appreciating her teammates who helped her with her success to date.
“It’s a really good opportunity and I’m really happy,” she said. “I’ve been a left side before, I’m a right side now so I’ve had both sides of experience offensively and I couldn’t have done it without the support of my teammates each step of the way.”
Rebecca Maxwell added seven kills for the Huskies along with 20 assists three aces, and eight blocks. Karlene Kaminski and Lauren Huntley each added five-kill performances. Raisa Stokes led the Huskies with 16 digs on the defensive side of the game.
While the Vikings did win a battle here and there, the Huskies controlled the game at the net, a facet Nichol was happy to see take hold.
“We were doing a great job with our hands technically and making sure that we weren’t letting their attack tool off our block or anything like that,” he said. “It was a fantastic job from everyone who was up in the front row today.”
Returning to the win column, the Huskies will get a chance to write a new chapter in their season in Edmonton as they head down Highway 63 for a battle against The King’s University Eagles this coming weekend.
“We know that this is our two hardest matches of second semester coming up,” Nichol said. “King’s is a team we’ve met in preseason, had a really really good battle with them down in Edmonton.
“We’re really excited to play a top-caliber team right before playoffs are getting going just to judge where we’re at and to see if we’re ready to go for the test in late February.”
The two sides are scheduled to meet Friday at 6:00 p.m. with a Saturday rematch at 1:00 p.m.
