Cougar Men, Women finish 2011 with wins over Red Deer Kings/Queens

The Cougar women’s volleyball team closed out their 2011 in business-like fashion, downing the Red Deer College Queens 3-1 on the road on Friday before returning to Kenyon Court on Saturday for a dominant 3-0 (25-19, 25-18, 25-15) victory.

Playing in front on their home fans for the final time in 2011, the Cougar women were too much for the upstart Queens, showing excellent poise and patience in a straight sets win.

Olivia Grecu (11 kills, 7 digs) and Player of the Game Kate Porta (9 kills, 11 digs) led the way for the Cougars, but it was setter Mackenzie Allen that really kept the Cougar offense on point throughout the match. Allen’s coverage of the court and the creativity of her sets kept the Queens’ defense off balance all night, and made it easy for her teammates to put points on the scoreboard.

The Queens put up a valiant effort throughout, but the Cougs were organized, composed, and got a complete effort from both rows.

The Cougars’ outside hitting put relentless pressure on the Queens, and the visitors found themselves hitting from the back row on multiple occasions, never really putting much heat on the 9-1 Cougars.

The Cougars never trailed in the first set and although the Queens kept it close, the Cougars seemed to have nerves of steel for the entire match and never panicked, over committed or became frustrated. The Queens battled hard, but the Cougars emerged with a 25-19 win.

The second set was more of the same. The Queens took an early 4-3 lead but the Cougars stormed back with great net play and exceptional ball placement. The Queens were forced to hit from the back row out of desperation and as such, didn’t threaten much in the second set. Julia Pasieka gave the Queens trouble with the score at 15-14, dropping in an ace off the serve and then another near ace on the next point that the Queens couldn’t put into play. Pasieka’s serve dips extremely hard once it gets over the net and confused the Queens’ back row on multiple occasions. The Cougars pulled away and the set finished 25-18.

Credit the Queens with continuing to give a great effort down two sets to none, but the Cougars were simply on another level tonight. They stuck to the game plan, had great communication between the front and back rows, and Allen continued to find her big hitters from every spot on the court. The third set wasn’t much more than a mere formality and the Cougars won easily 25-15.

With the win the Cougars extend their winning streak to six matches, and the complete team effort tonight ends their 2011 on a high note. ACAC women’s volleyball resumes January 6, 2012, when the Cougars will face the Medicine Hat Rattlers on Kenyon Court. Game time is set for 6 p.m.

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The potential of a team can be measured in how they respond to adversity, and tonight the Cougar men’s volleyball team showed that they have the ability to bounce back from a tough loss. In their final game on Kenyon Court for 2011, the Cougars bounced back from a 0-3 loss to the Red Deer Kings on Friday by outhustling and outstrategizing their opponents en route to a 3-1 win.

In front of a boisterous home crowd, the Cougars played their final match of the semester with heart and determination. Their ability to change their game plan mid match was the difference in this one, and after dropping the first set won three straight sets to close out the Kings.

Behind Colton deMan’s huge 18 kill, 9 dig performance, the Cougars move to 7-3 on the year and sit two points back of first place in the ACAC.

After being humiliated 3-0 on the road the night before, the Cougars got more aggressive as the night went on and seemed to feed off the energy of the crowd and each other.

The Cougars didn’t play well out of the gate, and the Kings’ net play was a notch above that of the Cougs in the early goings. The Cougars’ front row couldn’t seem to penetrate the Kings’ blocks, and their own block attempts were repeatedly unsuccessful as the ball continued to sail out of bounds off outstretched arms. The Kings’ kill attempts often came on sharp downward angles, which seemed to take the Cougar back row out of the game completely at times. The first set was close, and the Cougars held the lead at 17-14, but a 9-2 Kings run put the visitors out front, and the first set ended 25-21 Kings.

After watching his team struggle in the front row during the first set, Cougars’ Head Coach Shawn Sky made some adjustments on offense that caused the Kings fits. The Cougars began to set up kills from the back row and used a lot of misdirection up front to throw off the Kings’ blockers. Colton deMan had a big day hitting from the back and with the Kings’ focus on him, the Cougars’ Dan Durham began to see success hitting from the outside. Durham finished the game with 11 kills. With the crowd behind them, the Cougars built up some momentum and outplayed the visitors in the second set, winning easily 25-18.

The third set was a chess match, with both teams trying different things to outsmart their opponent. In the third set the Cougars used Durham effectively from the back row and deMan began to see some openings on the left side. He was repeatedly able to send his kill shots off the outside arm of the Kings’ front row men and out of the reach of the other defenders. Anytime the Kings scored on an emphatic kill, the Cougars would answer immediately, effectively nipping any momentum swings in the bud. Communication between the front and back rows was exceptional in the third set and with the crowd cheering and the players rallying around one another, the Cougars took the third set 25-20, capping it off with a massive block that brought the crowd to their feet.

The Kings wouldn’t go down without a fight, but a great fourth set from Jordan Parkin and Jordan Lantz made sure the Cougars never trailed in the final set. Parkin finished with 11 kills on the night, and Lantz had 9. The Cougars started the set strong, but some sloppy net play sent the Kings on a 7-4 run that made it 16-15 Cougars. Sky called timeout and it seemed to reinvigorate the men, as they responded with a 9-2 run to finish the set 25-17 for a three sets to one victory.

The Cougar men can take pride in avenging Friday’s loss, and will return to action in the New Year on January 6, 2012 to face the Medicine Hat Rattlers on Kenyon Court. Game time is 8pm.