Huskies bounce back for bronze

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This article was published 24/03/2025 (225 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Forget backs against the wall, Isaiah Mamer nearly crashed into one.

When he cut his leg open but had it bandaged and returned without missing a point, only to score the very next one, there was no stopping the gritty homegrown hitter and the Saskatchewan Huskies.

They beat the Sherbrooke Vert et Or 3-1 (19-25, 25-21, 25-17, 25-16) in the U Sports men’s volleyball bronze-medal match at the Healthy Living Centre on Sunday.

“It’s just the brotherhood that we have where we’re just such a strong team in how much we care for each other and we’re willing to lay it all out there for each other,” said setter Noah Opseth.

“We know the person behind us will do the exact same thing.”

The Huskies battled through an outrageous month of post-season action. First, it was a best-of-three quarterfinal series that went the distance against Trinity Western, breaking a long streak of Spartans’ national appearances.

Then after losing a Canada West semifinal to the Winnipeg Wesmen, the Huskies fought back from down 2-0 to beat the UBC Thunderbirds.

Saskatchewan topped Queen’s University in four sets to reach the medal rounds in Brandon and was a set away from the final before the host Bobcats roared back to win a five-set epic on Saturday evening.

Third-place matches are often litmus tests of what’s inside a team more than its physical ability. And these guys showed they have a lot of Dog in them.

“Our main goal was to win nationals this year and when we went back to the hotel we just talked about it and said, ‘We didn’t achieve this goal, what’s our next goal?’” Opseth said.

“We wanted it and guys just put pedal to the metal and didn’t look back.”

While it was a brisk March afternoon, their engine started like it was a bitter January morning.

Sherbrooke went ahead 9-7 in the first set and extended it on a Julien Vanier serving run. The man who caused problems for Alberta in the semifinals kept blasting way from the back line with an ace to pull ahead 13-7.

Saskatchewan hung around and made a push courtesy of three straight Sherbrooke errors to cut the lead to 18-16, but started giving away points soon after as the RSEQ champs went ahead 1-0.

The Huskies led wire-to-wire in the second set, posting nine kills and just two attacking errors while the Vert et Or made six at the net and seven from the service line.

First-team all-Canadian Emmett Graham settled in and pushed his team to a 1-1 tie with four kills in the set.

The third set was a battle of southpaws as Graham kept working and Francis Del Vecchio replaced Yoan David on the other side, finding instant success.

Lucas Musschoot knocked down four kills early to help Saskatchewan pull ahead 13-9.

Isaiah Mamer got in on the fun after that, rattling off four kills in the back half of the frame while the Huskies continued making the Vert et Or earn every single point they scored, which wasn’t enough to claw back.

Saskatchewan pulled ahead 10-5 in the fourth, then after Mamer cut his leg diving into his team’s bench, he had it bandaged and returned to score the very next point as the Huskies maintained their healthy lead.

Mamer served four straight as Musschoot and Graham turned digs into kills, putting all five Huskie hitters on the board, which read 17-9.

Sherbrooke setter Jonathan Portelance took a seat as the Vert et Or could feel their streak of three straight national medals ending.

Jacob Baird ripped an ace on match point, sending Saskatchewan and its fans into a lengthy celebration on the HLC floor.

Morrow and Graham led the Huskies with 12 kills each.

“We’re just exhilarated. If you (told) any of us at the beginning of the year that we’d have a bronze medal around our neck at nationals, I’m happy about that,” Opseth said.

“There’s so many people that don’t get this opportunity, that being grateful for the chances put before us is huge in this moment.”

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