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Battle of the Huskies: Saint Mary's defeat Saskatchewan in four sets to move on to U SPORTS consolation final
Posted: Mar 15, 2025

Battle of the Huskies: Saint Mary's defeat Saskatchewan in four sets to move on to U SPORTS consolation final

Photos Box Score
Game Leaders
Saskatchewan
K: Abbey Klein - 9
B: Juli Howell Bourner - 8
D: Tielle Hagel - 10
SA: Keely Anderson - 4
Saint Mary's
K: Emilia Mikanovich - 17
B: Anna Liniewski - 7
D: 2 Players (#10, #17) - 11
SA: Sydney Fader - 6
Team Stats
Full stats

WINNIPEG, MB – The No. 6 seed Saint Mary's Huskies defeated the No. 7 seed Saskatchewan Huskies in four sets (25-19, 14-25, 25-18, 26-24) in the U SPORTS women's volleyball consolation semifinal on Saturday afternoon at Investors Group Athletic Centre in Winnipeg.

With the win the (Saint Mary's) Huskies move onto the consolation final on Sunday at 3 p.m. ADT (1 p.m. CDT) to face off against McMaster for fifth place in the country.

Overcoming adversity is nothing new to the Saint Mary's Huskies. The AUS champs lost numerous starters throughout the season and are missing one of their assistant coaches this weekend with an ongoing health issue. So, being down early in the first and fourth sets was nothing they hadn't already faced. Like they've done all year, they pressed on, coming back to win both the first and fourth sets, and the match.

Both sides put on a clinic at the net, combining for 46 assisted blocks. Sydney Fader and Anna Liniewski both had six assisted blocks for SMU, and six players had at least one in the game.

Fader added six aces, while Emilia Mikanovich had a game-high 17 kills and .343 hitting percentage.

"Our team word this year has been unity. Even when we're going through hard times, what kept us together is just playing for each other," said Fader.

"When our coaches are out, when people are injured, we play for each other. That's what's keeping us together. This girl's out with a concussion, I'm going to play for her and score and do whatever."

"We kept going no matter what," added Mikanovich. "We supported the girls who were out, and tried twice as hard to fill their spots. That's how we came through."

Saskatchewan opened up an 8-3 lead in the first set, hitting efficiently with no errors compared to three for SMU. A timeout from Saint Mary's head coach Darren Russell reaped rewards, as they battled back on the strength of their blocking and service pressure.

The AUS champs out-scored Sask 22-11 the rest of the way, taking their first lead at 12-11, holding onto momentum from there. A Fader ace gave SMU the lead, and she added two more back to back at 15-11 and 16-11.

Fader was also key on the block, along with Liniewski. The duo combined for a block that tied the game at nine, and the latter had four assisted blocks and a solo as Saskatchewan got stuck in a tough rotation.

Overall, SMU had six assisted blocks entering the second.

Mikanovich was also a force from the left side. She hit .600 with five kills in the first, including the set winner which she blasted off hands.

"Honestly, it was like, if you guys want to win, you need to serve tougher and start playing some defence," said Russell of the timeout message.

"These girls have been doing it all year on their own. At this stage of the game you just sort of sit back and watch them play. They're on cruise control. Emilia has been a rockstar all year and her whole career even last year at nationals. She wants the ball every time. She, in most cases, puts it away and gets it done. Syd, this year stepped up and really carried the right side load. It's just another day for these girls getting the job done."

Saskatchewan controlled momentum through most of the second set, evening the game up with a 25-14 win. The U of S hit .667 overall, along with seven aces while SMU hit in the negatives.

Saskatchewan opened up leads of 5-1, 9-4 and 16-8, consistently keeping SMU out of transition on serve-receive. Fader added two more aces for her side and Taylor Lougheed also got in on the party, but the difference in hitting efficiency proved to be the story.

Saint Mary's broke open the third set in the latter stages, with Fader and an aggressive block once again playing a role.

Fader went hard off hands to give her side a 14-12 lead, as setter Grace Blaskovits went to her often from the right. Fader and Liniewski later teamed up for the 14th assisted block of the match for SMU, as Saint Mary's opened up a four-point cushion and didn't trail the rest of the way in a 25-18 win.

Down as much as six early in the fourth set, SMU battled back once again, as the two sides continued to be a force at the net.

Julia Howell Bourner and Keely Anderson combined for an assisted block to give Sask a 19-16 lead, but Fader and Alena Piatukhova had the response with an assisted block of their own a few points later, giving SMU their first lead of the set, 22-21.

Sask earned set point a few rallies later off SMU errors, but once again Piatukhova and Fader pulled through, giving their side a 25-24 lead off a combined block. The game then ended on an error one point later.

Saint Mary's moves onto the consolation final tomorrow at 1 pm CT to face off against McMaster.

Recap by Mike Still / Manitoba Bisons Athletics
 Photos by Zachary Peters / Manitoba Bisons Athletics