Cougars overpower Rustlers

COUGAR WOMEN

The Mount Royal Cougars women’s volleyball team put together a more inspired and complete performance on Saturday afternoon, winning in straight sets 25-13, 25-16, and 25-22.

On Friday night, the Cougars were pushed to the brink against the Rustlers, needing five sets to pull out their sixth win of the season.

The Cougars came out strong Saturday, stringing together the games first four points in the opening set, as they used an array of offensive attacks to keep the Rustlers off balance.

Olivia Grecu led the first set with five kills, while teammates Kate Porta (4 kills) and middle Julia Pasieka (3 kills) combined for seven of their own, as the Cougs’ handily took the first frame 25-13.

The two teams would trade blows in the second set, as the Rustlers limited some of the mistakes that plagued them early on, forcing the game to 9-8 just under halfway through the second set.

Julia Pasieka would crush any Rustler attempts at taking the second set, as she helped the Cougars rally to a 17-12 lead, contributing six kills in the second set alone.

The Cougars offense would continue to prove too powerful for the Rustlers, as they looked simply overmatched, as the trio of Pasieka, Grecu and Porta continued to pace the offensive attack, as Porta added another five kills in the set, with Grecu contributing three.

Julie Deveson was on point, as the third-year Libero earned Player of the Game honours for her sharp passing, helping spark the Cougars offense with number of well placed balls.

The third set would be the afternoon’s closet, as the Rustlers showed signs of life, taking their largest lead of the match at 11-7.

The Cougars launched a mini-comeback, pressuring the Rustlers into a number of errors as their front row put up a wall of blocks, forcing the Lakeland hitters to swing either long or wide to avoid the block.

The Cougars would regain the lead at 12-11 and never looked back, as they went on to a 25-22 set win, with Pasieka putting the finishing touches on the match with a big stuff block on the outside.

Kate Porta, talked about the improvements from Friday’s match.

“It was much better than yesterday,” said Porta. “We just came together as a team, and passed much better and eliminated a lot of the errors that were costly on Friday.”

With the win, the Cougars improved their record to a league best 7-1, with just two matches remaining before the Christmas break.

The Cougars will have weekend off, before saddling up for a two game set versus the always tough Red Deer College Queens on Nov. 25-26.

The Cougars will be back on home court on Nov.26. Game time is set for 6:00 p.m. at MRU’s Kenyon Court.

COUGAR MEN

The Cougar men continued to look dangerous, downing the Lakeland Rustlers in straight sets for their second win of the weekend.

After dispelling of the Rustlers in four sets on Friday night, the Cougar men elevated their game on Saturday, sweeping the visiting side, in a match that was never really in question.

Dan Durham added 14 kills in his second match of the season coming back from injury, as the former ACAC all-star adds another versatile weapon to coach Shawn Sky’s already talent laden club.

The first set was all Cougars, as they built an early lead and continued to keep their foot on the pedal, throttling the Rustlers 25-15 in the game’s opening set.

Durham was hot right off the get go, tallying five kills, while Jordan Parkin did most of his damage in the match during the first set, notching six of his eight kills in propelling the Cougars to an early lead.

The second set was noticeably more competitive, as the Rustlers seemed to settle in on the afternoon, taking their first lead at 5-2.

The teams would trade barbs back-and-forth, with the Cougars able to tie things up at 19 apiece late in the frame.

Colton deMan would help the team to their biggest lead of the set with a series of kills, helping the Cougars pull away to 24-21, before the Rustlers would once again make things interesting.

A pair of hitting errors and a net foul on the Cougars would even the score up at 24-24, before Dan Durham slammed home a powerful kill to restore the Cougars lead at 25-24.

Graeme Beal would come into serve with the set on the line, and would prove to be the difference maker late as his serve was misplayed off the antenna giving the Cougars the 26-24 win.

In the third set, the Rustlers looked out of sorts, falling prey to a pair of out of rotation errors, and looking overmatched against the Cougars diverse attack.

Third-year Simon Hart would hammer down the match’s final kill, as the Cougars handily took the third set 25-15 and the match 3-0.

Dan Durham led the Cougars with a game high 14 kills, and talks about what it felt like to get back into game action.

“It felt a lot better than Friday; I was a little bit more into things. It’s a tough transition from just practicing and then back to league play,” said Durham. “The toughest thing is just getting your timing back on your attacks, I was getting in a bit early and so I was trying to make adjustments during the match, but it’s something I’ll keep working on in practice and it will get better.”

The win was the second consecutive for the Cougars, after falling to the Augustana Vikings a week prior in their only loss on the season.

The Cougar men will have a week of rest and recuperation before squaring off against arguably their biggest rivals in the Red Deer College Kings. The two teams have combined to win 31 of the past 46 ACAC championships and the match is always certain to be one of the year’s best.

The Cougars and Kings will square off at Kenyon Court, on Nov.26 at 8:00 p.m.