CALGARY – The Mount Royal Cougars opened their playoff run with a three-set win over the University of Calgary Dinos in their first quarterfinal matchup of the weekend.
The Cougars used the home crowd to their advantage for a strong early start and held off the Dinos down the stretch in the win, 25-14, 25-21, 25-17.
An early five-point lead right out of the gates for MRU forced Calgary into time out and set a promising tone for the remainder of the game. Mount Royal was in system and firing on all cylinders early, taking the first set with ease. Dholi Thokbuom was a major player, having five of the team’s 12 kills in the opening set.
Calgary came into the second more competitive, not allowing the Cougars to create a big lead off the start, but rather claiming a 10-9 edge themselves after a kill from Daisy Olsen. MRU pushed back and used tricks and skill to force a slight lead for themselves as they crept toward the midway point of the set.
“In the first set, we were almost a little afraid of their big blocks and tried to play around them,” said Alice Nikolaychuk, Calgary’s player of the game. “We have to come out energetic right away. We came out flat.”
Nikolaychuk finished the night with a team high 11 kills, accompanied with four digs.
Thokbuom put down another five kills before the second set was done, and helped propel the team to a tight set win. Calgary continued to build throughout the game, the third set having their best performance of the night. They continuously kept the things close, slowly increasing the pressure with every service.
“Obviously, this is not how we were hoping to come out and I think we’ve got a level of execution that we are capable of that we have got to figure out how to bring tomorrow,” said Calgary head coach Christine Biggs. “We just have to execute the things we are capable of as a group.”
At the halfway point, Mount Royal held a slim one-point lead over the visitors. Haley Roe saw the opportunity and hammered one down and started the run that would seal the victory. The Cougars put down seven points before the Dinos were back on the service line. Mount Royal had textbook defence that all stemmed from veterans Quinn Pelland and Sarah McKillican.
The second game of this quarterfinal match-up starts at five p.m. in Kenyon Court, a rematch you won’t want to miss. Catch the game live on Canada West TV.
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