Alberta falls to MRU in straight sets

EDMONTON – Sweeping the Pandas in straight sets for the second time in a row, the U SPORTS #3 ranked Mount Royal Cougars came away with an impressive 3-0 (25-14, 25-23, 25-18) road win over the Alberta Pandas on Friday night.
 
The win comes on the heels of the Cougars 3-0 win over the Pandas in last spring’s U SPORTS semifinal, held at the University of Calgary. MRU has won three of the last four against the Pandas.
 
Ella Lawrence led MRU (14-5) with 10 kills on just 24 attempts, with Madison Marshall adding nine. Fifth-year setter Quinn Pelland finished with a game-high 27 assists and 13 digs.
 
Lauryn Tremblay led Alberta (8-11) with eight kills in an uneven performance from a majority of the team, with Laila Johnston adding seven, and Mackenzie Pool recording six. The Pandas were plagued with attack inconsistencies all night, finishing with just 27 kills and 17 errors on 102 attack attempts.
 
Mount Royal’s defence, led by middle Emma Boyd, was the difference in the opening set. Boyd finished with three blocks in the first set alone, stopping a Pandas team that had only two players record a kill. The Cougars finished with a 16-7 kill lead through one.
 
Looking for a spark, the Pandas swapped setters in the second, going from Justine Kolody to Edan Wade. The move made a marginal bump, with Alberta finishing with a slightly higher attack percentage. A sloppy Cougars team kept the second set close, with MRU committing 12 attack errors and six service errors.
 
41 digs through two sets, and an experienced setter were enough for Mount Royal to edge out a close second.
 
Mount Royal closed out the match with an efficient and clean third, finishing with 13 kills on just 33 attempts.
 
The two provincial foes will close out their season series tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. MT at Saville Community Sports Centre.