The No. 7 ranked University of Saskatchewan Huskies picked up a weekend split against the University of Winnipeg Wesmen with a 3-1 (25-22, 25-22, 21-25, 25-18) victory Saturday night in Winnipeg.

Winnipeg (9-9) defeated the Huskies (8-8) in straight sets in the series opener Friday night.

Zak Rempel led the Huskies with a match high 15 kills. Colin Fraser had 12 kills and three blocks. Tyler Epp finished with 10 kills and three blocks. Setter Derek Epp had 43 assists and eight digs.

Casey Schouten led the Wesmen with 13 kills and two service aces. David Bommersbach finished with 11 kills and a team leading 10 defensive digs. Setter Mikael Clegg had 34 assists and a pair of blocks. Ethan Duncan led the team in blocks with three solo.

In the opening set Saskatchewan gained the early advantage thanks in a part to a 4-0 run to lead at the technical timeout 16-9. The Huskies built a 24-19 lead when Winnipeg fought off three set points to cut the Huskies lead to 24-22. A Winnipeg service error on the next play gave the Huskies the opening set 25-22.

Winnipeg regrouped in the early stages of the second set leading 12-5. Winnipeg continued to lead later in the set by a 20-17 margin but the tide turned soon after. A 6-0 run by the Huskies put the visitors ahead 23-20. Saskatchewan scored three of the next four points, with two coming off kills by Andrew Nelson and Tyler Epp to win the set by an identical 25-22 score and a 2-0 lead in the match.

The hometown Wesmen needing to win the third set to extend the match got off on the right foot. Winnipeg built a 16-9 lead at the technical break but once again the Huskies made it interesting. A late run aided by four Wesmen attacking errors cut the Winnipeg lead to 21-18. Winnipeg regrouped and soon after a kill by Garrett Jones followed by a Huskie attacking error gave the Wesmen the set by a score of 25-21.

Both sides exchanged points in the early stages of the fourth set all the way to 9-9. The Huskies went on a 7-2 run to take a 16-11 lead at the technical break and eventually closed out the match winning the set 25-18. The Huskies finished the set with only three hitting errors and a hitting percentage of .433.

Saskatchewan will be on the road next weekend visiting the UBC Okanagan Heat. Winnipeg will have the bye in their schedule and will next see action on Feb 10-11 at Thompson Rivers.