Cougars return home after bye week, lose 1-3 to UBC

Box Score After four road games and a bye week, the Cougars men’s volleyball team returned home to Kenyon Court to host the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds. Despite their best efforts, the Cougars could not overcome the Thunderbirds, losing 1-3 in their first home game of the month (23-25, 10-25, 25-21, 18-25).

Paul Dionne opened up the first set of the night for MRU, taking the first serve of the match and also scoring the Cougars’ first points. However, errors plagued the Cougars early and UBC went on a 6-2 run to start the set, scoring all of their points from MRU mistakes. 

The Cougars recovered quickly, enacting a 5-1 run to tie the game 7-7 and using that momentum to seize their first lead of the game, 13-12. As both squads traded blows, the game remained close, with the teams never being separated by more than four points.

In the final stretch of the set, though, UBC showed off their experience and athleticism and, by virtue of a kill from Gavin Moes, ended the set 25-23. MRU out-killed UBC by a margin of 13-10, but errors proved to be the Cougars’ kryptonite as they made two more mistakes than the Thunderbirds.

The Thunderbirds’ raw athleticism shined as they opened the second set with a 5-1 run. MRU responded with a series of error-free sets as Cody Hudson and Aidan Roberts found kills from brilliant Grant Hill assists, helping the Cougars bring the deficit down to just two points. 

UBC responded immediately as they activated a 9-1 run, seizing momentum with a 17-7 lead on the scoreboard and silencing the home crowd. That forced Shawn Sky to call timeout, and as both teams retook the court, Dionne and Isaac Karstad were able to reinvigorate the crowd with their killing abilities. 

However, their efforts proved to be too little, too late, as the Thunderbirds closed the second set out with an 8-3 run, winning it by a 25-10 margin. Despite the set loss, Hudson impressed his bench and the home crowd with his hitting talents, recording five kills in the loss.

The Cougars’ frustration proved to be a great motivator as they traded punches with the Thunderbirds to open the third set of the night, locking themselves into a 5-5 standoff early. UBC were on their heels, making a series of attack and service errors as they continued to underestimate the Cougars hitters. 

Karstad, Hudson and Dionne took advantage, keeping their hands hot and racking up even more kills on the night as Hill put on a setting clinic and scored a party ball with confidence. With the fans re-engaged, the Cougars seized their first lead of the night since the first set of the match, 9-8 and soon expanded that to their largest lead of the night, 12-10. 

With ingenious trick plays, low error rates, and kills coming from a myriad of Cougars, MRU took their first set win of the night by a 25-21 scoreline. Eight Cougars recorded at least one kill in the set, including Dionne, Karstad, Hill, Roberts, Hudson, Matthew Clements, Jovan Stepanovic, and Ryan John.

The fourth set opened with a series of long rallies as the two teams exchanged kills and errors, never being separated by more than three points. However, the Cougars trailed for the majority of the set, finding it difficult to overcome the UBC’s sheer size and athleticism. With the score at 12-11, advantage Thunderbirds, the Cougars conceded a 7-2 run and found themselves in a five-point deficit, forcing Sky to call his second timeout of the set with the score at 19-13.  

Hudson, Dionne and John each secured a kill to give their team a fighting chance, but could not overcome the hot hand of Reeve Gingerra, who put away the final kill of the set, giving the Thunderbirds a 25-18 set victory and a 3-1 match win.

Ryan John took home Player of the Game honours, posting team-highs in total attacks (25) and digs (7), along with five kills on the night.

The Cougars will look for redemption on Saturday, Nov. 23 against the UBC Thunderbirds on Kenyon Court at 7 p.m. and live on Canada West TV.