I know I got it somewhere other than Volke (because I didn't hire him, I like my money :D ) but I'm not sure if I got it in the sand....
My sothe I got to level 20 before he promoted and then got him up to level 15ish as a Whisper, he was pretty awesome with Baselard. Sure, he doesn't always kill on one turn but he's fast enough it doesn't matter, the enemies didn't get to him much.
That being said, I never tried Volke. Cuz I'm a Sothe fan. B)
P.S. Sothe with Baselard is perfect for killing the spirit thingies that you fight in the endgame.