Koskies back in Manitoba with Lancers

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This article was published 18/03/2025 (193 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Darian Koskie left the University of Manitoba knowing his opportunities to play close to home would be much fewer and further between.

The Winnipeg native was back for the Brandon University men’s volleyball pre-season tournament in 2023, now he’s helped the Windsor Lancers earn a trip to the Wheat City for this week’s U Sports championship.

And he gets to do it with his younger brother Noah, a third-year outside hitter for the Ontario University Athletics silver medallists. They drew the No. 6 seed and face the No. 3 Alberta Golden Bears on Friday at 2 p.m.

“It’s been great, probably the best choice I’ve made to come out here and play alongside him because we never really had that opportunity growing up,” Darian said.

“For me and my brother, it’ll be pretty awesome to be back in Manitoba and be able to play in front of some family and the great fans too.

“That’s one thing I’ve always appreciated about playing in Brandon is just the fan base there, a lot of people that love watching volleyball so it’s always cool to play there.”

The Koskies’ teammates in Windsor figured they would have played together for a season in high school, only being two years apart. But they came from a powerhouse St. Paul’s Crusaders program that seldom needs to bring sophomores up.

Darian spent three years with the Bisons, one being the COVID-19 cancelled season, then had to sit out one when he headed east.

The six-foot-seven middle blocker made an immediate impact in 2023-24, earning a second-team all-Canadian nod.

He’s a conference all-star again and happy to trade some individual accolades for team success.

Koskie posted 101 kills and just 18 errors for a .400 hitting percentage in the regular season. He added 76 blocks, 1.01 per set to sit among the top middle blockers in the nation.

More importantly, the Lancers went 18-2 to finish first in OUA.

“It’s definitely a product of the great people around me,” Darian said, singling out setter Markus Law-Heese, the OUA player of the year.

“He had a great season this year … he’s been a huge part of my success. You can’t have steady success as a middle without a great setter.

“On the flip side of the ball, on defence, lots of help from coaches … One of our assistants specializes in blocking and working with the middles.”

The Lancers reached nationals two years ago but went two-and-out, tying for last place.

That was Koskie’s redshirt year, though, so head coach James Gravelle is his middle blocker — who went through three OUA playoff matches with just one hitting error — can make a difference.

“Darian had a great year offensively last season, was an all-Canadian and it was on the shoulders of his offence,” Gravelle said.

“What he’s done this season is really become a complete player. He’s focused on improving his serve and especially focused on his blocking, he’s made huge strides … continues to improve every day.”

BALANCE KEY TO

LANCERS OFFENCE

Windsor went through the OUA playoffs with just one double-digit kill performance by Chase Bridges.

While a pair of 3-0 victories and a deflating 3-1 loss to Queen’s in the final limited the totals, what’s evident, and has been from the start, is this team’s balance.

“It’s definitely offence by committee so we just try to improve our first-ball side-out while making a big focus our blocking defence throughout the season, which was a big strength,” Gravelle said.

“We definitely receive well so we’ve gotten our middles involved and everything has gone from there.

“It’s been an opportunity for us to focus on trying to make break points from the service line as best as we can and working on our blocking defence because we know we’re going to need that in this upcoming tournament.”

Gustavo Siquiera leads the team with just 2.97 kills per set, while Darian Koskie is fifth of the five starting hitters at 1.36. They don’t have a superstar attacker but are tied for fifth in the country, earning 16 points per set.

That’s credit to Law-Heese.

“He’s definitely an X-factor for our team,” Gravelle said. “He leads the offence and averages over a point per set himself. He’s a weapon in the front row. He’s perfected two-handed flush forwards and backwards, he’s able to pick his spots to contribute offensively while keeping the offence a well-oiled machine.

“It’s every position, just solid and then some.”

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