Cougars Catchup: November 4th, 2024

Playing away from home at MacEwan University against the Griffins, the Cougars opened their 2024-25 Canada West basketball season with a quartet of wins between their two teams. Not to be outdone by their on-court counterparts, the women’s volleyball team also secured two victories when they visited the University of Saskatchewan Huskies. The Cougars’ only defeats came on the men’s volleyball courts as MRU was swept in their weekend series against the Huskies.

Find out exactly what happened in each match of the Cougars basketball and volleyball teams’ road trips below.

WBB: Friday, Nov. 1 vs MAC Griffins

With six new faces on their roster, Robyn Fleckenstein and her group of hoopers opened their 2024/25 campaign with a dominant 15-point victory at MacEwan University against the Griffins. 

Nora Luca, who led all returning players in a myriad of statistics last season, showed why she deserves star status as she scored a team-high 16 points in her team-high 26 minutes on the court. She also led the way on the backboard with nine rebounds, including three offensive boards, and in free throws as she went 6/6 from the charity stripe.

Jamie Lalor was stacking dimes all night, chipping in five assists. Her unselfish play was a huge contributor in distributing the scoring load evenly, with three Cougars scoring in double figures. In fact, all 10 Cougars who entered the game scored at least one point each.

The other Lalor sister, Hayley, made her mark on the defensive end as she contributed five of her team’s 14 steals, two more than the Griffins were able to force. Resultingly, the Cougars outscored the Griffins in points off turnovers 25-23.

Defensive discipline was the Cougars’ calling card all night, as they were getting stops without fouling and creating a massive disparity at the free throw line. The Griffins only earned nine free throws in the entire game, compared to the Cougars’ 20 makes on 26 attempts (76.9 per cent), 10 of which came in the first quarter.

MRU’s offense benefitted most when they took the ball to the rim, which resulted in them scoring 28 points in the paint, nearly double the Griffins’ total of 16. Many of those points came on the offensive glass as the Cougars nearly quadrupled the Griffins’ second chance points, winning that statistical battle 19-5.

Dominant defensive discipline and overwhelming offensive output helped the Cougars take home a 70-55 victory over their in-province rivals, establishing themselves as a force to be reckoned with early in the Canada West season.

WVB: Friday, Nov. 1 vs SSK Huskies

Entering the weekend with an 0-2 record, the Cougars women’s volleyball team earned their first win of the season when they visited the University of Saskatchewan Huskies on Friday . With their 3-2 victory, the team gave Rhonda Schmuland her first victory as head coach and moved to 1-2 on the season.

After opening the game with victories in the first two sets, winning set one 25-16 and set two 25-23, the Cougars lost the next two by tight margins, conceding a 27-25 defeat in set three and a 28-26 defeat in set four. In a sudden-death fifth set, the Cougars edged out a 15-13 victory, with newcomer Grace Coulter ending the game with a walk-off kill.

The Cougars got this win with grit and determination on the defensive end, blocking nearly twice as many attacks as the Huskies (14 compared to eight). That helped them overcome the Huskies’ offensive onslaught, as they eeked out a victory despite being outscored 60-56 over the five-set match, including being out-killed 46-38.

Coulter set the pace offensively with 10 kills while Emma Boyd led the team defensively with five blocks. Bronwynn Davies-Neira made her presence known on multiple columns in the stat sheet, registering four aces and seven digs in the game, second in that statistical category only to Coulter, who posted a team-high eight digs.

With many standout performances from her players, Schmuland stamped her first win as Head Coach of the Cougars in a competitive five-set match and proved that her volleyball team has the potential to be a tough opponent for any team in the conference. 

MBB: Friday, Nov. 1 vs MAC Griffins

After seeing their female counterparts secure a win in their season opener, the Cougars men’s basketball team walked onto the same court and earned a win of their own, albeit by a much tighter margin. In a closely contested clash, the Cougars tipped off their season with a 93-90 victory over the Griffins in Edmonton, giving Josh Mullen his first victory as a head coach in Canada West and U SPORTS.

Each quarter was tightly contested, with all periods being separated by three points or less. Entering the fourth quarter with a 70-64 lead, MRU held off the Griffins’ best offensive efforts and when it came down to crunch time, new addition Avnoor Bhullar confidently sunk the two game-sealing free throws with 11 seconds left on the clock.

Keivonte Watts proved to be unguardable as he finished the game with an electrifying team-high 23 points on 9-19 shooting, including 1-3 from three-point range. As a team, the Cougars went 3-13 from downtown, with the other two made threes coming from Bhullar and fellow newcomer Dray Walburger.

The Cougars offset their low volume of three-pointers by clobbering the Griffins at the rim, outscoring MacEwan 60-40 in points in the paint. That helped them erase MacEwan University’s +15 advantage from downtown and gave them consistent scoring for all 40 minutes of gameplay.

Ijah Nelson also made his return after suffering a season-ending knee injury last year. In 21 minutes of action, the guard scored six points, grabbed 3 rebounds and dropped one dime, shooting 2-7 from the field and 2-2 from the free throw line. With a missed Griffins three at the end of the game, the Cougars men’s basketball team left the court victorious by three points in a 93-90 Friday night scoreline.

MVB: Friday, Nov. 1 vs SSK Huskies

The Cougars men’s volleyball first weekend series away from home started on a low note as the University of Saskatchewan Huskies swept MRU 0-3. Saskatchewan dominated the stat sheet, out-doing the Cougars in every box office category. 

Despite keeping it close in the first set, only losing by five points, the Cougars lost the second and third set by a combined 19 points, scoring 14 in set two and 17 in set three. Overall, they were outscored 75-51, a margin of 24 points. 

However, even in defeat, the Cougars and their fans were given plenty of positive signs with a myriad of players performing well. Newcomer Paul Dionne has already made himself a key player on the squad as he secured a team-high eight kills. Grant Hill settled into his setting role beautifully as he contributed 26 of his team’s 29 total assists on their 29 kills, and three players managed to score aces, including fellow new Cougar Isaiah Karstad, Grant Hill, and Ryan John.

The Cougars showed prospects of defensive proficiency as Matthew Clements had a game-high nine digs in the loss. Cody Hudson led the team in blocks with three, narrowly beating his mentor on the team, Jovan Stepanovic, who chipped in one rejection of his own. 

Even though the Cougars did not end the game with the result they wanted, fans left the game optimistic that they would soon improve. 

WBB: Saturday, Nov. 2 vs MAC Griffins

As if they were discontent with their dominant win on Friday night, the Cougars women’s basketball team doubled their margin of victory on Saturday night, defeating the Griffins 78-58 and sweeping their season-opening weekend series.

Six players made at least one-three pointer, including Jamie Lalor, Asha Donnelly, Jenika Martens, Maddy Hooper, Nora Luca, and Marissa Richards. Lalor also tallied a remarkably efficient 14 points on 5-6 shooting from the field, including 1-1 from downtown. 

Richards swished home her fair share of free throws, as her ruthless toughness earned her 12 trips to the charity stripe, nearly half of her team’s 26 total free throw attempts. Sinking eight of them, Richards led the team in scoring with 15 points on 3-7 shooting, including 1-3 from three-point range. 

The Cougars once again dominated the offensive glass, scoring 24 second-chance points compared to the Griffins’ two. The scoring load was also well-distributed as four players reached double-figures in points and the Cougars’ bench finished with nine more points than the Griffins’ substitutes. 

Temi Ajayi’s team-high three assists and the team’s 10 total dimes helped them post highly efficient shooting numbers as the Cougars finished with a field goal percentage of 42.3 per cent, including 33 per cent from long range. 

With their pair of wins to open the season, the Cougars proved that their hard work in the preseason was worth its weight in gold. Their next matchup comes in the form of their home opener as they take on the Trinity Western University Spartans on Kenyon Court and Canada West TV on Friday, Nov. 8 at 6 p.m.

MVB: Saturday, Nov. 2 vs SSK Huskies

After a crushing loss on Friday night, the Cougars were hungry for revenge the following game and played much more competitively, taking the Huskies deep into the fourth set of the match. However, despite their best efforts, MRU could not overcome Saskatchewan and lost 3-1 with tight margins in each set.

The box score statistics tell the story better than the set scoreline as the Cougars were only outscored by 13 in the aggregate. Both teams played great brands of volleyball, as they were minuscule disparities between their end-of-game box score statistics. However, the Huskies made slightly fewer errors than the Cougars, including three fewer attack errors, three fewer serving errors, and seven less blocking errors.

MRU’s first set ended up being their best and was where they found their only set victory of the night. In that slate, the Cougars committed 10 kills on 21 total attempts, making only four errors and posting an attack percentage of 28.6 per cent. However, they wouldn’t return to the twenties in efficiency until the fourth set of the match, being out-killed 42-39 over the course of the game on five per cent better attack efficiency. 

Grant Hill broke out on the stat sheet, filling up the assist column with a team-high 29 dimes and the dig column with a team-leading nine digs. Ryan John also put in a tremendous game as he led the Cougars’ offense with eight kills and contributed defensively with three blocks. Jovan Stepanovic’s hands were on fire as he served up two aces and two assists, while Cody Hudson chipped in seven kills and five blocks to show off his multifaceted skill set.

Even as MRU dropped two games in a row on the road, the Cougars’ roster is showing early signs of rising potential. They’ll look to end their two-game losing streak on Friday, Nov. 8 in their first Crowchild Classic matchup of the season as they take on the University of Calgary Dinos in the Jack Simpson Gymnasium and on Canada West TV at 8 p.m.

MBB: Saturday, Nov. 2 vs MAC Griffins

After a nail-biting Friday night victory, the Cougars took home a much more convincing win on Saturday against the Griffins, leaving Edmonton with a 88-74 win and starting their season on a two-game win streak.

Five Cougars ended the night with double-figure point totals, but no one earned as many points as new addition Dray Walburger, who scored 20 points on 7-11 shooting, including 4-7 from three-point range and 2-2 from the line. All nine players that were on the court for more than one minute ended up scoring, thanks to Josh Mullen’s team-friendly emphasis on ball movement.

Avnoor Bhullar broke out with 19 points on 7-15 shooting, including 4-11 from downtown. As a team, the Cougars shot 12-33 from three point range compared to the Griffins’ 9-26, but that wasn’t the biggest contributor in their statement victory. 

The stat that stood out most was bench scoring, as the Cougars’ depth shined and scored 23 more points than the Griffins’ reserves. In the second quarter alone, which is generally the period where bench players play the most, MRU outscored MacEwan 31 to 13. Considering that the teams were locked into a tight first quarter, with the Cougars up by just a single point after the first 10 minutes of action, that explosive second quarter broke the game wide open.

MRU’s fast and frantic pace of play also earned them more free throws than MacEwan, attempting 11 more shots from the charity stripe and cashing in on seven more makes. This advantage was truly emphasized in the second half as MRU did not miss a single free throw in the final 20 minutes of play.

Jean-Nelson Pigoue kept his physicality high on both ends, too, grabbing a game-high 14 rebounds, six of which game on the offensive glass. First-year guard Kuach Gajak lead the game in blocks with two rejections, which tied the entire Griffins team total in that statistical category.

After tipping off their season with a two-game win streak, the Cougars will look to win a third straight match at their home opener on Friday Nov. 8 as they take on the Trinity Western University Spartans on Kenyon Court and live on Canada West TV.

WVB: Saturday, Nov. 2 vs SSK Huskies

The Huskies were searching for vengeance against the Cougars in their Saturday night rematch, but failed to defeat MRU as they lost in four sets, 3-1.

However, the game was much closer than the final score indicated; the Cougars only outscored the Huskies by six points in the aggregate and every set ended with less than five points separating the two teams. 

The Huskies even out-killed the Cougars 55-51, but lost too many points to too many errors as they made five mistakes on the attack and another four on serve receptions. 

Bronwynn Davies-Neira played a phenomenal game, contributing 16 kills, two of which came from aces. She was a stalwart defensively as well, rejecting a team-high four attack attempts in the victory.

Grace Coulter demonstrated her two-way impact once again with 10 kills and a team-high eight digs on the night, while Lexi Herrod had yet another picture-perfect night in the assist column with 39 dimes. 

The Cougars’ only set loss came in the first set as they lost 25-27, but they followed that up with a hard-fought 32-30 victory in the second set. Winning 25-23 in set three, they turned a lackluster fourth-set start into a 25-21 match-winning set, capped off by Davies-Neira’s game-winning kill.

After their pair of wins, MRU looks to extend their victory streak to three consecutive matches in their first Crowchild Classic of the year, taking on the University of Calgary Dinos in Jack Simpson Gymnasium and on Canada West TV on Friday, Nov. 8 at 6 p.m.