Playing with all seven starters for the first time in the 2014-15 Canada West men's volleyball season, the University of Saskatchewan Huskies took a 3-1 (25-22, 22-25, 25-17, 25-21) win over the visiting Brandon University Bobcats Friday night at the PAC in Saskatoon.
 
With the win the Huskies, hosts of the 2015 CIS Men's Volleyball Championship improve to 9-6. Brandon drops to 11-4. The win pulls Saskatchewan within four points of the second place Bobcats in the tight Canada West standings.
 
Fifth-year duo Paul Thomson and Matthew Busse led the Huskies in the victory. Thomson tallied a match-high 17 kills and six digs, while Busse recorded 13 kills and 10 digs. Jordan Nowakowski also chipped in with the attacke with 12 kills.
 
Frank Jones and Sam Tuivai each recorded 12 kills for the Bobcats in the loss, while Sebastian Steigmeier recorded 11 kills and 11 digs. Roy Ching also had 11 digs in the match.
 
After Brandon scored three straight points to tie the first set at 16, Saskatchewan took a timeout to regroup. Two Thomson kills and a service ace, as well as two Busse kills helped keep Saskatchewan in control to the 25-22 win.
 
After a Busse ace, Saskatchewan led the second set 12-11. The Bobcats went on a 6-2 run to take a 17-14 lead.  The Huskies crawled back tying the set at 19 but Tuivai and Steigmeier attacks, as well as a big block by Brenden White and Steigmeier gave the Bobcats the 25-22 win.
 
Saskatchewan had control of the third set and quickly grew a 22-13 lead. The Bobcats couldn't recover giving the Huskies a 25-17 win.
 
Tied at 15, the Huskies went on a five-point run that included a Busse ace and two kills by Nowakowski. The Bobcats pulled within two twice in the set but a Robert Graham service ace ended the match 25-21.
 
The two teams will battle again Saturday night at the PAC. First serve is set for 8 p.m. and can be viewed on canadawest.tv