Cougars fall short 0-3 to Thunderbirds in gruelling match

With the sour taste of being swept on Friday night still fresh in the Cougars’ minds, MRU walked onto Kenyon Court on Saturday looking to exact revenge on the UBC Thunderbirds. Despite their best efforts, though, the Cougars were unable to overcome the Thunderbirds and were swept in back-to-back games, losing 0-3 in their final game of the weekend (17-25, 16-25, 14-25).

UBC opened the first set with bad intentions, immediately enacting a 5-2 run. Bronwynn Davies-Neira took it upon herself to keep the Cougars afloat though, leading MRU back into the game and tying the set at 10 with her precise killing. 

Rhonda Schmuland pulled players to the side in between serves, providing key insight that helped them remain close for the next few rallies. However, as the back-and-forths became longer and longer, UBC’s low error rate and tenacious killing ability began to shine. 

Trinity Solecki ended the set with a blur of a kill, handing MRU a 17-25 first-set loss. Davies-Neira was almost impossible to stop as she was the only Cougar with more than one kill in the first set, posting four of them and a serve ace in the Cougars’ defeat.

The second set was a much closer affair as the teams traded blows and remained tied 4-4. The Cougars’ blocking efforts were key in keeping the game competitive, with Friday’s Cougars player of the game Sydney Scatcherd rejecting attack after attack. 

However, UBC simply had too much momentum behind all of their kill attempts, opening up a 6-1 run to take a commanding 10-5 lead. Clicking on all cylinders, the Thunderbirds forced Schmuland to call timeout as they expanded their lead to seven points. MRU looked unphased by the scoreline and came out of the timeout with a ferocious kill from Emma Boyd to bring the game to a 15-9 scoreline. 

With ice in their veins, the Thunderbirds served a series of fastballs, picking up kills and aces on their way to a 11-point lead. The Cougars did their best to keep it a close game, out-scoring UBC in the final stretch of the set 6-4, but couldn’t overcome the deficit as they lost the second set 16-25. 

In her second game filling in for Lexi Herrod, Marie Leggett was proving to be a super-sub, picking up one kill and eight assists through the first two sets of the match.

MRU opened the third set on a 3-1 run behind Davies-Neira’s sick serves and spikes, but the Thunderbirds responded to tie the game at three points. MRU forced UBC to call timeout just minutes later as they took a commanding 7-4 lead. 

The Thunderbirds responded coming out of their conversation as they scored seven unanswered points to take an 11-7 lead. Grace Coulter’s communication helped the Cougars stop the bleeding as she correctly called out an attacking error and MRU clawed their way back to a one-point deficit. 

UBC, unaffected by the Cougars’ efforts, re-invigorated their killers and spiked the ball with unstoppable force on their way to a 20-13 lead, forcing Schmuland to call a timeout. Two consecutive Thunderbird kills later, Schmuland called her second timeout of the set with her team down by nine points. 

However, as the teams retook the court, UBC proved to be too much to handle as they won the set 25-14 and swept the Cougars for a second consecutive game. Fiona Brown took home Player of the Game honours for MRU, leading the team with five serve receptions and picking up two assists and a block in the Cougars’ loss.

The Cougars will look to end their losing streak on Friday, Nov. 29 as they travel to Winnipeg to face the University of Winnipeg Wesmen at 5 p.m. live on Canada West TV.