Volleyball impressive in home debut

COUGAR WOMEN

Sat. Oct 22 - Two matches, two wins for the Mount Royal Cougar women’s volleyball team. The defending national champions opened their season Friday night with a straight sets win over the Grand Prairie Regional College Wolves, and followed that up Saturday afternoon with another victory over the visiting Wolves, 3-1 (18-25, 25-23, 25-17 and 25-19).

Led by veteran Julia Pasieka, the Cougars overcame some sloppy play early on and weathered the hitting storm of Grand Prairie’s outside Tonya Dueck to move to 2-0 on the season.

The Cougars looked out of sorts at times in this one, but came up with the big points when they had to. Pasieka finished with 14 kills and was the Cougars leader on the court all afternoon. Former Wolf Kate Porta had another strong showing with 10 kills and seven digs, and Olivia Grecu finished with nine kills.

Head coach Sandra Lamb concedes that wins are wins, but she knows her squad will need a more complete effort moving forward.

“We really weren’t good from the get go,” said Lamb. “We weren’t prepared to pass the ball and we weren’t prepared to execute anything we had talked about in the pre-game.”

The Cougars began the first set with some sloppy play that allowed the Wolves to build momentum, and they used that momentum along with some strong defense to take an 11-7 lead. Dueck consistently beat the Cougars front row in the first set and increased the lead to 18-12.
 
The Cougars made a late push after Lamb called timeout at 14-20, but the Wolves were able to finish off the set 25-18 to go up 1-0.

The Cougars looked unorganized early in the second set as well as they quickly fell into a 2-5 hole, but would answer shortly thereafter as Porta hammered home a kill to make it 4-5 Cougars. Pasieka’s serve was able to find a hole in the Wolves’ backcourt to make it 5-5, and a fantastic hustle play by Fallon Middlemiss set up a Mackenzie Allen tip to take the 6-5 lead.
 
The teams would trade points for a period of time, and carried by Pasieka and Porta the Cougars moved into a 15-12 lead. Neither team seemed able to pull away from one another, and the two eventually found themselves knotted at 23. Julia Pasieka put one home to make it 24-23 and a final effort from the Wolves sailed long to tie the match up at 1-1.

The third set began quite similarly to the first two as the Cougars again weren’t quite in sync. The home team had some hits fly out of bounds and continued to get abused by Grand Prairie’s outside hitters to fall behind 8-12 in the set, but as usual their head coach knew exactly what to say, and after a timeout the Cougars went on a 12-3 run, including a stretch of seven straight points, to make it 21-15 Cougars.

The set ended in fitting fashion as Julia Pasieka spiked one home to make it 25-17 and give the Cougars a two sets to one edge.

The fourth set was the Cougars best of the night, and after taking a 3-2 lead, the Cougars would not trail for the remainder of the set. Some solid net play and outstanding hitting from Pasieka gave Mount Royal a 10-6 lead, and some great defense from the back row stretched that lead to 12-6.

The Wolves tried to mount a run, and pulled within one at 15-14, but Grecu and Pasieka kept putting it right back in the opposite court as the game neared match point. At 24-19 the Cougars were in control, and sure enough Pasieka put the exclamation point on her amazing performance, smashing one past the outstretched hands of the Wolves blockers to give the Cougars the win.

It’s early in the season and some kinks are to be expected as the team continues to grow, but Lamb isn’t prepared to make any excuses.

“You can use whatever excuses you want, it’s early, it’s this and it’s that, but it wasn’t the best game. We have to get better at our ball control, and not just on first contact. We expected the ball was just going to come to us and we weren’t playing it, so we need to work on that. Our front and back row communication wasn’t very good either.”

Back-to-back wins over last year’s ACAC runner-up certainly doesn’t have the determined Lamb jumping for joy, and a good coach is always looking for ways to make their team better each and every time they hit the floor. Lamb is a great motivator and having once been a setter for the Cougars, knows exactly what the girls need to hear.

The standard has been set for the Cougars after last season’s championship run, and while the Cougars team chemistry is still in the developmental stage, this team has the talent and the coaching for another very successful season.
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Fri. Oct 21 - The Mount Royal University Cougars women’s volleyball team looked every bit as good as advertised, if not better, disposing of the Grand Prairie Regional College (GPRC) Wolves in straight sets in a rematch of last year’s ACAC final.

Last season, the Cougars and Wolves played an epic five set final, with the Cougars coming out victorious, on this opening night; the end result was never in question.

Using a well balanced offensive attack, a stout serving game and exceptional teamwork, the Cougar women made short work of the Wolves, winning in straight sets (25-8, 25-20 and 25-20) to win their first match of the new season.

Kate Porta was lights out for the Cougars, registering a match high 12 kills against her former team, as the talented left-side transferred to Mount Royal this fall after spending the last two seasons at Grand Prairie.

After an emotional banner unveiling and championship trophy presentation, the Cougars got down to work in the first set, scoring the matches first six points before the Wolves would even get on the board.



Porta hammered down five of her 16 kills in the first set, while middles Julia Pasieka and newcomer Ashley Lundy contributed with three stuff blocks in the first frame alone. Pasieka would end the first set for the Cougars, delivering a timely kill from the middle to give the Cougars the 25-8 win.

In the second set, the Wolves looked like a more organized bunch, playing much more like the team the Cougars expected, but it still wouldn’t be enough, as Porta would continue to lead the offense, registering another four kills in the second stanza as the Cougars would win 25-20.

The third set would unfold similar to the second, with the two teams matching point for point until late in the set. With the Cougars up 17-16, the Wolves would take a timeout that would seemingly spark the Cougars offense, as they rattled off the next four points to lead 21-17.

With the game at 24-20 the Cougars would send in rookie setter Jenna Smith to finish the match, as the Beaverlodge product would tack on her first service ace of her ACAC career to end the match.

OIivia Grecu would take home Player of the Game honours, for her eight kill, three block performance, while libero Julie Devenson would pace the team in digs, racking up 12.
Head coach Sandra Lamb said she was happy with her team’s performance.

“We came out pretty good,” said Lamb. “But I thought we got a little bit complacent after that. Winning in three sets is always good though. I think we handled the whole banner unveiling and nervousness of the match well. We’ll take the win for sure.”

With game two of the double-header set for tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. coach Lamb says there’s a few things she’d like to see improve for tomorrow’s match.

“Our passing and first contact wasn’t very good tonight, so we are definitely going to have to step that up a little bit,” stated Lamb. “We’ll watch a little game tape tonight, but they had a couple of great shots that were going high off our hands, nothing too major we’ll change, just a few minor adjustments and if we take care of business, I think we’ll be successful.”

COUGAR MEN

Sat. Oct 22 - The Mount Royal Cougar men are a young bunch this season, but they showed the resiliency of a veteran squad on Saturday as they beat the Grand Prairie Wolves for the second match in a row, 3-1 (26-24, 18-25, 25-23 and 25-22).

Led by team captain Colton deMan, the Cougars were able to mount impressive comebacks in the first and third sets en route to the victory. The two teams were very evenly matched, but the difference on this night really was deMan, who seemed to get better as the match went on and finished with an outstanding 20 kill performance. Jordan Parkin added 13 kills for the Cougars as he and deMan overpowered their opponents at the net.

Coach Shawn Sky was thrilled with his team’s victory, and was most impressed with the mettle of his young team when the pressure mounted.

“This was a match that a young team easily could have lost, and I’m just really proud with how they battled out there today,” said Sky.

The Wolves came out with a ton of energy in the opening set, and it was impressive to see the Cougars weather the storm despite the powerful hitting of the Wolves front row.

Down early for the majority of the first set, the Cougars were beat repeatedly by the Wolves outside hitters. Despite being down 14-20 the home team continued to battle and a couple great defensive plays led to some thundering kills by Parkin and deMan to pull the Cougars back within two at 19-21.

The Wolves called timeout but it did nothing to stop the Cougar comeback as Parkin came up with a massive block to make tie it at 22-22. The Cougars had all the momentum at that point, and finally pulled away to take the first set 26-24.

The second set was a back-and-forth battle until 12-12, before the Wolves front row began to find holes in the Cougar wall to jump out to a 19-14 lead. Despite continuing to rack up the kills, deMan and his bunch couldn’t handle the Wolves precise hitting and dropped the second set 18-25.

deMan really came alive in the third set, stuffing the Wolves twice in a row to take the early 2-0 lead.

After trading points for some time the Wolves again began to pull away, putting the Cougars in a 12-16 hole. Errant serving plagued both teams in the third set, but more so the Wolves, who continuously put serves into the net to allow the Cougars back into the set.

The Cougars went on an 11-6 run led by deMan who was an absolute force on this night, and yet another missed serve sealed the Wolves’ fate in the third set as they lost 25-23.

The fourth set was an exciting one, with neither team willing to back down, and the continuous rallies had the crowd gasping and cheering. Contributions off the bench were key for the Cougars on Saturday afternoon, particularly Simon Hart who provided a big spark in the fourth set.

The Cougars jumped out to an early 6-1 lead only to see it evaporate as quickly as it appeared. These two evenly matched squads battled to a 20-20 tie before a Wolves missed serve forced them to call a timeout with the score 21-20 Cougars. Mount Royal would miss a serve of their own a couple of points later and led by just one point, but the young squad were ready to close this one out, ending the match on a beautiful block to win 25-22.

Although the Cougars didn’t start out quite the way they wanted to, they became more aggressive as the game went on and got key contributions from both the bench and their starting lineup. Coach Sky was quick to praise them both.

“Unfortunately we came out tentative, we talked about being the aggressive team but we still came out as the team wondering what they were going to do and we weren’t going to be successful that way,” said Sky. “We did a great job of changing things up, and we had a bunch of guys that came in and did a fantastic job off the bench.”

“Colton really carried us today, and he was literally a beast in many ways. I’m proud of the adjustments we were able to make.”

Confidence can be a powerful thing, especially when it’s mixed with talent. This fast start should help the Cougars see what they’re capable of, and so far Sky’s squad looks like they have what it takes. It’s still early in the season but the Cougars are on the right path, and the future looks bright for the young bunch out of Mount Royal.
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Fri. Oct 21 - It was a great night for both the women’s and men’s volleyball programs at MRU, as the Cougar men took care of business against the visiting Grand Prairie Wolves, winning in four sets (25-21, 27-25, 20-25 and 25-19).

Colton deMan was a force on the offensive side of the ball, notching a game high 22 kills in his first action since a knee injury cut his season short last year.

Newcomers Jordan Parkin (10) and Jordan Power (13) combined for 23 kills, while Jordan Lantz added eight kills in the win.

Elsewhere, setter Matt Cantin was impressive in his ACAC debut, leading his squad to a ‘W’ and running a well-rounded offense from the setter’s position, a performance not lost on head coach Shawn Sky.

“Jordan Parkin had a great match, and Colton did a tremendous job leading,” said Sky. “That was Matt Cantin’s first ACAC match ever, as a rookie setter, the toughest position to play, anytime you can guide your team to a win in your first time it’s great.”

With the Cougars missing perennial ACAC all-star Dan Durham due to injury, the rest of the Cougars squad stepped up big, outplaying the Wolves for the majority of the match - only slipping in the third set.

After winning the first set 25-21, the Cougars showed character and determination in the second. With the set tied at 25-25, the Cougars defence shone through as a wall of blocks forced two balls wide by the GPRC offense, giving the Cougars the 27-25 win.

The Cougs’, would let the Wolves back in during the third set, as they seemed to ease off the gas pedal up a pair of sets – allowing Grand Prairie to win 25-20, narrowing the match to two sets to one.

In the fourth, the Cougars would come back out attacking, taking an eight point lead midway through the match 18-10, before putting the finishing touches on a strong performance with a 25-19 set win, claiming the match 3-1.

Colton deMan, said it felt great to get back on the floor for the first time in almost a year.
“It feels awesome to be back,” said deMan. “I feel healthy and back to normal. I feel like I’m playing the best volleyball of my life right now - I’m really happy to be playing again.”

With game two set for tomorrow, coach Sky knows the team has to make a few improvements if they want come out on top.

“It’s a good start, but we have a lot to work on,” said Sky. “Dan Durham was hurt and couldn’t go and considering we started four first-years, we’re happy with the win. We’re going to need to be better tomorrow to be successful, and we’ve got to make some adjustments offensively and defensively in terms of the tendencies they were showing us. But overall pretty good.”

Game time is set for 3:00 p.m. at Mount Royal’s Kenyon Court.

Congrats on the win Cougars volleyball!