Cougars Catchup: February 5, 2024

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 | Box Score 3 | Box Score 4
You get a win! And you get a win! Everyone gets a win!

Pardon the use of a dated Oprah meme, but the MRU Cougars had a pretty good weekend.

The women’s hockey team made their way to Saskatoon for a couple of games against the Saskatchewan Huskies, while the men’s and women’s volleyball teams went even further east for a weekend series with the Brandon University Bobcats. In this week’s edition of Cougars Catchup, I’ll let you know exactly how the three teams went 6-0 on the road.

Cougars sweep Bobcats in Smith and Huebert’s return to Brandon.

It was somewhat of a homecoming for Mount Royal women’s volleyball head coach Shane Smith and assistant coach Donata Huebert as the Cougars visited the Brandon University Bobcats.

Smith previously worked as an assistant coach for both the men’s and women’s teams at Brandon while Huebert was a star on the court for the Bobcats for four years. Huebert was named Canada West Libero of the Year three times over the course of her legendary career at the institution in southwestern Manitoba.

Team captain Jessica Osczevski recognized the significance of her coaches’ experiences at Brandon and what they’ve taken forward to coach at Mount Royal.

“I think it means a lot to [Donata] and Shane to be back in Brandon,” said Osczevski. “It’s an awesome opportunity to even bring their kids out here and show their old stomping grounds to them and all of us.”

Osczevski and her teammates certainly did not disappoint in their visit to Brandon.

In Friday’s game, the Cougars cruised to a 3-0 (25-22, 25-18, 25-12) victory, playing better and better as the game progressed. Mount Royal jumped out to a 4-0 lead that was highlighted by a surprise kill from setter Lexi Herrod. After Jessica Osczevski had her attack blocked, Herrod saw the opportunity to hammer the ball and found the back corner of the court.

Up 1-0 and looking to grab the second set, Osczevski stepped back to take the serve for set point. After a deep breath, the fifth-year star delivered an ace to give the Cougars an opportunity for a sweep.

After two clutch sets from MRU, the third and final set was never in doubt. Bronwynn Davies-Neira, Mya Morgan and Sydney Scatcherd all stepped up to help the Cougars win the set by 13 points.

MRU kept rolling into Saturday’s rematch, taking the first two sets and looking to wrap things up quickly once again. 

However, the Bobcats had other plans.

The third and fourth sets each went the distance. Brandon was able to grind out back-to-back 28-26 set wins to force a deciding set. 

Mount Royal returned to form in the final set. The Cougars jumped out to a 10-1 lead, ultimately sealing the win by a 15-4 score as who else but Jessica Osczevski registering the game-winning kill on match point.

Mya Morgan recorded a career-high 13 kills, helping the Mount Royal to improve to 6-14 on the year and keeping their playoff hopes alive.

MRU holds onto first place with two wins in Brandon

The MRU Cougars men’s volleyball team extended their winning streak to six games, defeating the Brandon Bobcats twice over the weekend.

Mount Royal dominated early, going up 8-0 in the first set of the weekend and forcing the Bobcats to scramble for answers.

Unfortunately for Brandon, there aren’t many things you can do when the best player in the country is at the top of his game.

Chris Byam could not be stopped on Friday, posting 18 kills, a couple of blocks and an ace.

Mount Royal’s abundance of riches on the outside helped carry them forward with left sides Jacob van Geel and Max Haronga contributing to an eventual 3-1 win over Brandon, capped off by a match-point kill from Byam.

On Saturday, there was more dominance from the visiting team.

The Cougars had to fight tooth and nail in the first set, as the Bobcats went point for point all the way down to the wire. Tied at 23, the Mount Royal stole a point after miraculously keeping the ball up and the Bobcats hitting the ball out. The point put Max Haronga back to serve, as the set’s result rested in his hands.

Haronga dealt an unreturnable spin serve, ricocheting the ball off the Brandon libero to give MRU the 1-0 set advantage. 

The second set was never in doubt with MRU winning by 11 points.

With the finish line in sight, the Cougars and Bobcats traded points until Mount Royal ultimately pulled away for their third straight weekend sweep.

The stellar weekend for MRU keeps them atop the Canada West standings and has clinched a home playoff game for the quarter-finals that begin on Feb. 23.

MRU gets back in the win column against the Huskies

The defending national champion Cougars women’s hockey team looked to bounce back after their first consecutive losses since early October.

In their visit to Saskatoon, the squad took two-of-two wins against the U SPORTS tenth-ranked Saskatchewan Huskies.

On Friday, the Cougars went down 1-0 a few minutes into the first period. However, that early goal would be all the Huskies would get.

Kaia Borbandy scored her third of the year after a superb pass from Mackenzie Loupelle, levelling the score at one.

Mount Royal found twine again just minutes later when Ava Metzger redirected Emma Bergesen’s point shot to fool the Saskatchewan netminder.

Aliya Jomha broke her nine-game goal drought, letting a wrister go along the ice and sneaking through the screened Huskies’ goalie to make it 3-1.

Finally, rookie forward Jerzey Watteyne scored for some added insurance while on the powerplay in the third. Watteyne tucked home the rebound following a Kiana McNinch backhander, bringing MRU’s goal total to four.

Kaitlyn Ross made 27 saves for her 15th win of the season, tying her own MRU single-season record set last year.

Looking to build on their convincing victory, the Cougars defeated the Huskies 2-0 on Saturday.

After two scoreless periods, Mount Royal sniper Athena Hauck finally broke the deadlock. Hauck swiftly picked up the puck in the offensive zone, curled around the top of the faceoff circles and wired a shot from the slot in the top left corner.

To wrap up the weekend, Cougars captain Lyndsey Janes showed why she wears the ‘C’ on her sweater. As the Huskies put on the pressure looking to equalize, Janes fearlessly crouched to block a shot labelled for the MRU net. The forward tracked down the puck with a burst of speed and slid it into an empty net to seal the win.

Sophomore goaltender Scout Anderson stopped all 15 shots she faced for her third shutout of the season.

Going into their final weekend, the Cougars sit third in the standings, holding a 20-6 record.

Next Weekend

We’re in the homestretch, folks!

The women’s volleyball team returns to Kenyon Court to celebrate their seniors against the Regina Cougars while the men’s team goes into their bye week.

The men’s and women’s hockey teams get their final test of the regular season and they won’t be easy ones. They’ll both take on the UBC Thunderbirds, who sit first in the standings in each respective conference. 

Finally, the basketball teams go back on the road to visit the Thompson Rivers University Wolfpack.

Tickets to the home games can be purchased online and all of the action can be streamed live on Canada West TV.