The Keyano Huskies Women's Volleyball team finished their first half strong, shutting down the NAIT Ooks in a straight-sets victory (25-18, 25-22, 25-20) that secured a perfect home record in the first half of the season.
"We were just talking the change room about if you rewind to August and you told us we were going to be 7-2, going into the Christmas break, I think we would all be thrilled at that," Head Coach Keegan Kuhr said. "Every time we've needed people to step up, do their job, when it comes down to it, they've always done it."
The Ooks pushed back after a Friday loss, which caught the Huskies off-guard at points, but the home side was always quick to recover and restore their leads. Tyneille Neufeld had 15 kills and five digs in the win to lead her side once again.
"It felt so amazing; I'm so proud of everyone," Neufeld said. "A lot of [the mistakes] were coming from our end.
"We didn't come out with strong starts like we did [Friday]. We just had to battle back and just play our game, just make sure that we're staying aggressive and not just falling into the trap."
Nichol utilized his whole roster during the weekend and stuck with them through the hard points in Saturday's match. Jamie Ferns collected nine kills while Amber Francis had seven and Lauren Huntley had six. Rookie Sofia Janzen resumed her normal spot at the net, collecting four blocks in the match.
Rebecca Maxwell took care of setting duties, recording 33 assists to go along with six digs and four kills.
"It just showed me that I have even more depth than I thought I did. Everybody who came in this weekend did their jobs," Nichol said.
At 7-2 the Huskies head into the holiday break on a high, sporting a 5-0 record on the home court at the Syncrude Sport and Wellness Centre. They're also 2-2 on the road, which features two understandable losses to last year's Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) silver medalists.
As crazy as it might seem to be as well, the Huskies have already locked themselves into at least a play-in spot in the ACAC North Division, with the Huskies now holding the first tiebreaker on the Ooks team they dispatched this weekend.
"It means that we're going up," Neufeld added. "We're making those strides and we're right where we want to be right now."
The Huskies return to action in the new year on January 13-14 with a return to the ACAC's South Division as they take on the Lethbridge College Kodiaks and Ambrose Lions.
Their return to the SSWC will be on January 27-28 when they host the University of Alberta-Augustana Vikings for a pair of matches. Admission for those matches are free for all fans.
