Wesmen book ticket to Brandon for nationals

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This article was published 08/03/2025 (194 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WINNIPEG — It’s been a season of firsts for the Winnipeg Wesmen.

A first-year head coach. The first time they’ve held the No. 1 seed in the Canada West playoffs. The first time hosting final four weekend.

Now, the Wesmen will play for conference gold for the first time in program history.

A strong collective offensive effort that saw three different players reach double digits in kills earned the Wesmen a 3-1 (25-22, 26-24, 22-25, 28-26) triumph over the Saskatchewan Huskies in the Canada West men’s volleyball semifinal at Duckworth Centre on Friday.

“Unbelievable,” said Wesmen head coach Chris Voth, who was named conference coach of the year earlier this week.

“I couldn’t have imagined this year going like this. We’ve just been going game by game, and the guys have been amazing. We’re still looking for one more match, but unbelievable feeling going to nationals, and the guys really deserve it. They’ve been pushing all year and really proud of them.”

Indeed, the win also earned Winnipeg a trip to the U Sports championship tournament, which goes March 21-23 in Brandon.

The Wesmen play the Alberta Golden Bears for the conference crown today at 7 p.m., after they beat the UBC Thunderbirds in five sets.

Saskatchewan and UBC play for the bronze medal and last national berth today at 5 p.m.

Isaiah Olfert powered the Wesmen offence with 16 kills. Luke Lodewyks and conference rookie of the year Easton Dick chipped in with 14 and 10 kills, respectively.

“Coming in and having a new coach, it’s been great,” said Lodewyks, who added five digs and a service ace. “I mean, we didn’t know what to expect (at) the start of the season. We lost a couple of big guys from our team, but Chris has been amazing.

“I think we’ve collaborated really well as a team. I can’t wait to see what we can do (Saturday). It’s gonna be pretty fun.”

The Wesmen and Huskies matched up evenly on paper, both offering up top offences in the conference and solid defences. Where Winnipeg had an advantage, however, was in the service game.

It became the early story for Saskatchewan as the teams traded punches. While Winnipeg collectively hit an efficient .500 in the opened set, led by six kills from Olfert, the Huskies committed six service errors. The frame ended, fittingly, on a service error by the visitors.

Saskatchewan’s defence stepped up in the second — limiting Winnipeg to 10 kills on .200 hitting — but its struggles from the service line continued, as their seven errors offered the hosts too many free points.

After a third set in which the Huskies scored six of the final nine points to keep their season alive, Winnipeg jumped out to 5-1 and 15-9 leads, while the offence returned to its gaudy form from the first.

Saskatchewan clawed its way back to tie the set at 21-21, and a tug of war ensued for the next 10 points until the sides were tied at 26-26.

The sequence included a sensational effort from six-foot-10 left side Jaxon Rose, who dove into the bench area to save a point, which the Wesmen were eventually awarded to take a 25-24 lead.

“We have a motto, ‘Grit and Grime,’ I think that’s what it comes down to,” said Lodewyks. “Hustling for every ball, no balls hit the floor and then just stand together as a team working as hard as we can.”

The match ended on kills from Paxton Koop and Dick.

The Huskies were led by one of the best hitters in the conference, Emmett Graham, who finished with a game-high 19 kills. Isaiah Mamer supplied 15 kills, while Jacob Baird chipped in with 10 kills for the visitors.

“Just the fight,” Voth said of what he liked most about his team’s performance. “In a game like this, the teams are the same. Everyone’s ranked first, so it just comes down to making that one extra point and you could see we had a guy running into the bench … That’s just the heart of our team, and it’s been great.”

TICKETS PUNCHED: The Ontario teams heading to Brandon are set. Queen’s upset Windsor in Friday’s Ontario University Athletics final while Western upset York in the bronze-medal match to claim the third spot.

Sherbrooke swept Laval in the first match of the best-of-three RSEQ final on Friday. Match 2 is this evening, with the third match on Sunday afternoon if necessary. Only the winner receives a national berth.

» Winnipeg Free Press, with files from the Brandon Sun