MVB: Cougars struggle, fall to Wesmen in game one

Box Score CALGARY – A silencing effort from the Wesmen.

The No. 7-seed University of Winnipeg Wesmen men’s volleyball team defeated the No. 2 Mount Royal University Cougars 3-1 (25-12, 22-25, 18-25, 18-25) in game one of the Canada West quarterfinals at Kenyon Court.

In the two competitors’ regular season matches, MRU swept the Wesmen. 

However, Friday night’s playoff opener belonged to the underdogs.

“We had to get used to the speed and the height that [the Cougars] play at,” said the Wesmen’s star hitter Isaiah Olfert.

Mount Royal’s offence was clicking early in the first set. Samson Olsen spread out his set distribution including finding outside hitters Max Haronga and Jacob van Geel swinging from the back row. 

The Wesmen struggled to string together points in the first set, leading head coach Larry McKay to call several timeouts. 

Olsen’s four first-set aces were a huge difference-maker, surging the Cougars to take the first set by a healthy margin. 

Olfert found a rhythm in the second set for Winnipeg. The Wesmen took advantage of MRU’s sloppy defensive play with Olfert hammering down a few kills early in the second. After registering zero kills in the first set, the Winnipegger had six in the second.

“Every guy stepped up after we struggled in the first set,” said Olfert. “We came together as a team.”

Nigel Nielsen also rebounded in the second set, recording six kills of his own and leading the Wesmen to a three-point set win to even up the score. Nielsen finished with a team-high 14 kills

Winnipeg kept rolling into the third, playing energized, scrappy volleyball.

As for the Cougars, they looked like a shell of themselves. Defensive errors and offensive lapses plagued them through the second couple of sets after dominating the first. 

The Wesmen prevailed in the third set to go up 2-1.

With the Cougars on the ropes, Winnipeg dealt the final blow.

Mount Royal continued to struggle, showcasing numerous uncharacteristic errors. 

“The serve-pass game changed a little bit after the first set. We were really aggressive in the first and then tailed off,” said MRU captain Chris Byam. “[Winnipeg] started to pick it up and were slow to adjust to that.”

Byam was a lone bright spot for the Cougars, recording 14 kills and two aces.

Ultimately, the Wesmen cruised to a seven-point win in the fourth set, grabbing a 1-0 series lead. 

The Cougars and Wesmen will now put their focus towards game two of the quarterfinal series. Opening serve is scheduled for 6 p.m. MST on Saturday. Fans can catch the game live at Kenyon Court by purchasing tickets online or can stream it live on Canada West TV.