Bobcats turned Huskies achieve dream

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This article was published 12/03/2025 (389 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Four Saskatchewan Huskies are taking a familiar trip this week.

First, the drive east to Manitoba was to start their Canada West women’s volleyball careers with the Brandon University Bobcats.

Now it’s to compete on the nation’s biggest stage.

Taryn Hannah, Keely Anderson, Tielle Hagel and Ashley Thoms all traded their Bobcat blue for Saskatchewan Huskie green and they will wear it at the U Sports championship in Winnipeg this weekend.

“It’s really cool having a few of us from BU here now and going into this goal of experiencing nationals together,” Hannah said.

“With respect to our time at BU, it was different for everybody and how we all ended up at U of S, which is pretty cool that so many of us did … each on our own journey.”

Anderson joined the Bobcats first in 2020, the year lost to the COVID-19 pandemic. She debuted alongside Hannah in 2021 as both worked their way into the lineup. Anderson developed into one of the top servers in the nation, leading all of U Sports in aces one season.

Hagel arrived in 2021 as well but played in just one match.

Hannah transferred after that season and had to redshirt one year in Saskatoon.

Thoms arrived in 2022, when Hagel was quickly sidelined due to a back injury and ultimately moved back to Lethbridge, Alta., to rehab.

Brandon went winless in 2022-23, the final season under coach Lee Carter, as myriad factors prompted 13 players in two years to leave BU with eligibility remaining.

Anderson, Thoms and Hagel all wound up with the Huskies the following season, and since Anderson was granted a compassionate appeal, she started immediately.

This was far from a move to stack an already stout team, though. Saskatchewan missed the playoffs at 8-16 that season, then got in as the No. 8 seed at 10-10 this year.

It survived a wild best-of-three play-in series, going the distance at home against Trinity Western.

The Huskies travelled to face the top-ranked Fraser Valley Cascades in the quarterfinals, again winning 2-1 to secure their spot at nationals. They have the No. 7 seed, facing the UBC Thunderbirds in Friday’s quarterfinals.

“It’s pretty crazy,” Hannah said. “We’re definitely super, super excited for the opportunity. Getting prepped going into nationals, we learned a lot coming out of the final four and it was a great learning experience for us, getting to play against the best teams in the conference.

“It showed us what is needed to compete at this level.”

The Huskies only won one set in the final four, losing 3-0 to the eventual champion Alberta Pandas in the semifinals, then dropping a four-setter to the national host Bisons.

Hannah, a six-foot left side from Battleford, Sask., started her post-season in exciting fashion as she was named a Canada West second-team all-star.

“Coming in, I didn’t know if I’d even be a consistent starter in the lineup,” she said.

“I didn’t think it was in the cards but having that mentality to keep putting in the work and good things will happen … it was super, super exciting and I’m super honoured to receive that recognition.”

Anderson wasn’t as surprised after Hannah’s string of 12-straight double-digit-kill nights including a career-high 26.

“She just did all the hard work, all the little things to set herself up great for this year. She worked hard in the summer,” Anderson said. “This year, she was hungry coming back. I know last year she told me she wasn’t always herself with concussions … coming off the redshirt year. She was super hungry and when you’re hungry like that and put in the work I think good things show.”

Hagel finally earned a starting job she’d wanted for years and ran with it, racking up 1,044 assists, 34 kills and 229 digs, including the post-season.

Her 10 assists per set ranked second only to Manitoba’s Katreena Bentley.

“I could probably talk about Tielle for hours. She is just the hardest worker in the gym and wants it so, so bad. It’s just that this year maybe all the stars have aligned for us putting in the work,” Hannah said.

“She definitely doesn’t get the recognition she deserves because we wouldn’t be the team we are here without her.”

Anderson had a rockier year, starting with an opening loss to Regina and subsequent benching the following night. She didn’t hit double-digits until the last weekend of the first semester but steadily improved and was one of Hagel’s go-to hitters in the UFV series, posting 10 kills, one error and 20 digs in the deciding third match.

The six-foot-one outside hitter from Outlook, Sask., said it was a big year of growth on the mental side. She attributes that to a program Huskies head coach Mark Dodds introduced to the team called “The Winner Will.”

Former Huskie and national championship MVP Gisele Krueger started the mental training program focused on improving athletes’ ability to perform under pressure.

“I didn’t feel like myself on the court and I know when I wasn’t feeling like myself I wasn’t quite there for my team and that’s something that really spoke to me,” Anderson said.

“That’s something I never had to address in my career in my career until this year and I’m glad I did.

“I had to really learn more about myself so I could be better with my team. It goes to show not only am I doing the work but everyone on my team is doing the work. We’re so connected and it helps us to win those big matches.”

Thoms appeared as a serving sub in 11 matches, still in a depth role alongside Brandonite Mackenzie Lyburn, who’s in her rookie year.

And another former Bobcat is heading to nationals. Kitchener, Ont., native Syree Tucker transferred to St. Mary’s of the Atlantic University Sport conference in 2023.

She has 15 kills and 28 digs on the season, also usually subbing in to serve. Tucker served the AUS championship point against Memorial after having qualified for nationals the weekend before since the league had two berths.

SMU faces the host Manitoba in the 3-6 match, on the same side of the bracket as Saskatchewan.

Canada West champion Alberta plays Memorial, with the winner drawing McMaster or Montreal.

While the path to a national title for either Huskies team includes both teams Saskatchewan just lost to in the final four last weekend, Anderson believes in her group.

“We have so many strong, different talents. I think we’ve got a lot more to give and it’s really freeing that we can walk into the gym as an underdog and embrace that role again,” Anderson said.

“If we can upset UFV, we can do a lot of things.”

» tfriesen@brandonsun.com

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