Big-time Aussie player: Jacob Baird mans the middle for U of S Huskies

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Jacob Baird had never seen snow before joining the University of Saskatchewan Huskies.

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He’d never had to shovel it, either — until last week.

Baird — all 6-foot, 10 inches of him — found himself shovelling a foot or so of the white stuff for the very first time since arriving in Saskatoon during the fall of 2023.

He quickly discovered that digging out from heavy snowfall could certainly be a lot harder on one’s back than scooping up volleyballs.

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“Ah, the snow is the worst — definitely snow (is harder),” laughs Baird, who hails from Brisbane and its tropic-like climate in Queensland, Australia.

“We moved into a team house at the start of this (season) so I had my first experience with that last week. It’s fun when you have company (helping) but doing it by myself … not so much.”

Baird spent 17 years in the Brisbane area before moving to Canberra to train at the Australia Institute of Sport for a year and a half.

That’s when he got his contact with Huskies head coach Sean McKay and decided to come to the U of S.

“My coach back home wanted me to go to a few certain schools so he sent them a message about me and Sean must have liked what he heard,” explains Baird, who has done a couple of tours with Australia’s national team.

“We just started that relationship there and I just liked everything I heard. Heard that the program is great and Saskatoon sounded like a nice city. Here I am, year two.

“Even the weather’s interesting for me because I had never saw snow before I came here, so that whole experience is cool. I love the city, love the team and everything.”

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Baird has done a bit of everything for the Dogs. He leads the team with 30 blocks and is second with 55 kills and 75.5 points to go along with 29 digs and three service aces.

He has become a big deal for the Huskies, who host the Thompson Rivers WolfPack in Canada West men’s volleyball action Friday and Saturday at the Physical Activity Complex on the U of S campus.

Game-time is 7:30 p.m. Friday and 4:30 p.m. Saturday.

With a spike touch point at 361 centimetres or 11 feet, 10.5 inches, the high-flying Baird can really get up there.

“Size and athleticism helps, but he’s also a very high-skilled player, good in the small skills, reads the game really well,” points out McKay. “He’s got a good volleyball IQ, works super hard and he’s got good, high goals so he’s getting better and better each year. He’s starting to use his athleticism and size a little more intelligently.”

The middle is a particular strength of the Dogs with the likes of Lucas Musschoot, Mathieu Methot and Baird.

“We have a bunch of size and athleticism there, as well as two guys (Baird, Musschoot) that are in their respective national pipelines,” notes McKay. “Baird has also played a little right-side for us in the crunch.”

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Baird also adds a bit of character.

Well, he IS a bit of a character.

“Yeah,” smiles McKay. “He’s good in the team room, great with the guys. Good leader. Holds his teammates accountable and makes sure everyone in the gym is pushing themselves.”

Character?

“Probably, yes,” admits Baird. “I would say so.

“This team has lots of characters. Jesse Lee, one of my roommates, he’s good fun. Then the other Australian Jefferson Morrow, and others … It’s never a quiet or boring moment with them, which is always good fun, but when it comes to the training side and working, it’s really a good group of hard-working guys.”

Saskatchewan still has work to do, sitting at 4-4 in the super-competitive Canada West conference.

“It’s a very fun league to be in, lots of really close and good teams and matches, always fun competition,” says Baird, 21. “I just love training and competing with the team, so that’s probably the best part about it.”

Baird, who is studying in the College of Arts and Science, remains uncertain about the career he’d like to pursue outside of volleyball, but his next step would be to continue the sport for as long as he can.

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“I’d like to play pro for a bit,” he says. “I’m open-minded to the whole situation. I haven’t really started looking or testing the waters or anything yet.”

As for team and individual goals this season?

“Our main goal is obviously win a national championship and CanWest finals along the way,” he says. “I think, individually for me, it’s kind of growing as a player, kind of taking all of the opportunities I can and enjoying the new experiences.”

And, yes, new experiences include shovelling lots and lots and lots of snow.

DOG TALES: The Huskie women also host the TRU WolfPack with matches at 6 p.m. Friday and 3 p.m. Saturday in the PAC … Isaiah Mamer, a third-year Huskie, earned Huskies athlete of the week honours after producing back-to-back leading performances last weekend against the Manitoba Bisons. Mamer led the way with 23.5 points, converting on 57 per cent of his attacks on night one, before adding 16 points on night two. During the weekend, he had 36 kills, 10 digs and 2.5 blocks.

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