SASKATOON – A huge advantage in hitting efficiency allowed the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women's volleyball team  to cruise to a 3-0 (25-19, 25-18, 25-17) victory over the visiting Brandon Bobcats inside the PAC on Friday night.
 
Saskatchewan compiled a team hitting percentage of .342, finishing on 39 swings compared to marks of .090 and 28 for Brandon.
 
Second-year middle Mandi Fraser led the way with 11 kills and six blocks, followed by Brooke Listwin with eight. Averie Allard continued her strong start to the year with a game-high 32 assists.
 
Rayvn Wiebe and Deserae Unger were the top attackers for Brandon combining for half of their team's kills on the night. Jamie Bain had 20 assists in the losing effort.
 
A back-and-forth first set was broken open late. With the score 20-19 the Huskies would go on to claim the next five points, keyed by a kill and a big block from Fraser. The difference in the set was eight attack errors from Brandon, allowing the Huskies to pull away.
 
Much like the first set the Bobcats were right in it through a vast majority of the set before Saskatchewan dominated the latter portion of the set. Leading 18-17, Saskatchewan went on to score seven points to Brandon's one down the stretch, giving them the 25-18 set victory. It was the service line that was key for the Huskies in the second as they recorded four aces to the Bobcats zero.
 
That momentum rolled over into the third set as Saskatchewan was able to cruise for the straight-sets victory, claiming the third 25-17.
 
Both of these teams will turn around and do battle tomorrow afternoon at 3:00 p.m. That action can be watched live on canadawest.tv presented by Co-op.