Johnston, Moore lead Pandas to 3-0 win over Montreal

HAMILTON, ON – Second-year Pandas Laila Johnston and Allie Moore combined for 17 kills, to go along with 23 assists from Justine Kolody, as the Alberta Pandas advanced to the U SPORTS Semifinal with a 3-0 win over the Montreal Carabins. 

Alberta was extremely efficient in the quarter-final win, recording 30 kills and five aces, committing just 11 attack errors in their straight-sets win. The fourth-seeded Pandas also added 10 blocks, with their middles and strong service game causing problems for the Carabins all match. 

“It was a great start in this championship for us, Montreal presented a lot of challenges. Our goal coming into this match was to be tough from behind the service line, and I think we did a good job of sustaining that, and not making any points easy for them,” said Pandas head coach Carolyn O’Dwyer. “Still some room for us to grow, but happy with how we played today.” 

U SPORTS Rookie of the Year Abby Guezen added six kills, with Lauryn Tremblay and Ronnie Dickson adding three each in a well-rounded performance. The Pandas will now face the Canada West Champion Manitoba Bisons in the national semifinal tomorrow night. 

“A big key for us is having a balanced offence. We have multiple weapons on our team, so it’s just a matter of finding them in good situations,” said Kolody, who added a kill, block, and six digs to her 23 assists. “It’s nice to be able to set up the whole team like that.”

Strong middle play and block defence was key to the Pandas success early, as they took the first set 25-19. Moore had four of her eight kills in the opening set, to go along with two from Dickson. The Pandas also added four team blocks, and committed just three attack errors in the first. 

Johnston started to heat up in the second set, ripping in five of her nine kills in the set. The sophomore Panda also added two of the teams four aces in the set, to go along with three more kills from Moore in a 25-20 win. 

The third set was by far the closest of the three, with Montreal holding a 21-20 lead late. However the Pandas were able to win three-straight points at 22-22, with back-to-back Guezen blocks clinching the win.

Semifinal #1 is set for 4:00 p.m. tomorrow night in Hamilton, with the game avaiable on CBC Sports Youtube and CBC Gem.