Blazers Volleyball Complete an Immaculate Weekend With Two Sweeps Apiece
Blazers WVB's Peyton Kroeker led a balanced attack in their home opener with 5 kills.
Blazers men's and women's volleyball enjoyed a very successful weekend of matches, as they completed their first round of games with two three-set sweeps apiece against the Providence Pilots and newly returned Red River Rebels on Friday and Saturday night. The wins put both programs at the top the MCAC standings heading into a bye weekend for MCAC Soccer Championships.
Friday night's away matches were particularly significant, as the teams had the honour of being the first opponents to play in the recently renovated Providence Gymnasium in Otterburne, MB, and the inauguration certainly didn't go as planned for the home side as the Blazers stunned the crowd with a clean sweep.
On the men's side, the matchup represented a rematch of the 2026 MCAC Championships, which the Pilots took in a best-of-three series. Both sides lost some significant pieces and All-Conference selections over the summer, so it was a real show of program depth and strength of rookie class that will hopefully be a good omen for the season to come. The Pilots men's program has shown a real knack for bringing in new players into the system and continuing to be competitive year-over-year, as shown by their four consecutive MCAC titles, but it was the Blazers with the upper hand on Friday, taking three consecutive set wins and the match. CMU was able to come up with the clutch points at crucial moments in the game, as all three sets were within reach for both sides at times during the match, and third year middle Adrian Deer was certainly an impact factor, producing a serving run during the opening set that swayed the result in CMU's favour, and ultimately the tide in the game. Known for a balanced offence, the Blazers had kill totals of 10, 7, 6, 6, and 5 from their outsides and middles, and it was Deer's 7 kills, coupled with 3 aces, 1 block, and 1 dig that led him to be named MCAC Player of the Game for CMU.
The women's match went much the same way, the the Pilots putting up a good fight on the night, but were ultimately outmatched by the Blazers who were unbeaten through two matches heading into the weekend. South Manitoba product Kiersten Reimer looked comfortable in her first university match in the renovated Providence gym, having come out of the Pilots' club program, leading the Blazers with 9 kills on the night, while senior Julia Sawatzky added 7 kills and led CMU in attempts as the team's go-to outside, and was named Player of the Game for the green and gold. The Pilots suffered a down season in 2025/26, missing the playoffs after traditionally being a perennial powerhouse in the conference, and the straight-sets victory by CMU is an early-season setbck in their quest to challenge for the MCAC Championship again.
Saturday night was another significant match day for Blazers volleyball as they opened their home schedule against the newly returned Red River Rebels. The upstart program is clearly feeling some growing pains, as the largest school in the conference failed to put up much of a fight against a good show of depth talent from both CMU squads.
Both Rebels teams came into the match winless on the season; however the men's program had enjoyed some tight matches in their first weekend of play. Another slow start by the Blazers men's team surely had
Red River thinking they may have turned the corner, but CMU quickly dug themselves out and cruised to victory in straight sets. The women's match followed essentially the same script, with head coach Craig McKenzie able to utilize his entire lineup over the weekend, keeping his starters fresh and getting a number of rookies match experience early in the season. It was rookie middles Kenai Warkentin, and Katey Ward that earned themselves Player of the Game honours for CMU in front of the home crowd, both of whom had some ground-shaking kills that provided the nails in the coffin on the halloween-weekend preview.
The perfect weekend places both teams atop the MCAC standings, with the women enjoying a perfect 4-0 record having played all other programs in the conference, while the men sit in a three-way tie at 3-1 with the vastly improved St Boniface Rouges, and the defending champions Providence Pilots. MCAC volleyball takes a brief hiatus this coming weekend with soccer championships on tap, before heading into weekend sets of matches for the remainder of the season.
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