Women's volleyball Huskies edged by Eagles in season opener

The Keyano Huskies women's volleyball team showed strong character against stiff opposition, but ultimately fell to The King's University Eagles in their home opener in a five-set (25-23, 25-16, 20-25, 22-25, 15-9) battle.

"It was a good fight," said head coach Kira Sutcliffe. "It had ups and downs, but I think after losing the first two sets, them coming back in the third was a really good show of character.

"I think it really showed how the team is building towards our common goal. Going to a fifth [set] is never easy, and I think it was hard because the fifth set is always a sprint." 

The women's Huskies did well to keep pace with the Eagles in the opening two sets, but the visitors would eventually find their opportunity to pull away from their hosts. Things flipped in the third set as the Huskies fended off their opponents before earning a hard-fought win in the fourth set to push the game to the distance.

"I thought we fought hard. It was a long game," said Lainey Granley. "It's tiring things like that, but I thought the girls really pushed through and worked really hard."

In the fifth set, the Eagles pulled ahead for good and didn't relent in claiming the victory.

Tyneille Neufeld led the Huskies with 15 kills while Megan Polant had 13 to her credit. Granley earned player of the game honours with five kills, five digs, and six blocks.

Despite the loss, Sutcliffe was impressed by her team's resilience.

"I think we definitely saw a lot of fight from the girls," said Sutcliffe. "The subs that went in did a really good job as well so it's nice to know that we have a really deep bench that we can rely on as well."

The women's volleyball Huskies will look for a weekend split when they battle the Eagles at 3:00 p.m. Saturday at the Syncrude Sport and Wellness Centre.