Box Score
CALGARY – We will see you on Sunday, volleyball fans.
The Mount Royal University Cougars men’s volleyball evened the quarterfinal series at one-a-piece, defeating the University of Winnipeg Wesmen 3-2 (21-25, 28-26, 25-21,20-25,15-9) in a five-set thriller.
The Wesmen showed that yesterday’s win was no fluke. Cougars head coach was forced to call an early timeout after Winnipeg strung together a series of points that included untimely errors.
Mount Royal came out of the timeout looking like their normal selves, getting thunderous kills from Chris Byam and an electric solo block from Jacob van Geel.
“We were playing free,” said Byam. “We knew we had nothing to lose. We got to go for it.”
Despite the elevated play from MRU, the Wesmen rode the wave of the intense first set and prevailed to take a 1-0 lead.
Wesmen senior Nigel Nielsen continued his stellar weekend, leading by example on offence.
“We’ve seen this the whole season: anyone can win,” said Nielsen.
Nielsen finished Saturday’s contest with a team-high 16 kills.
Max Haronga energized the Cougars in the second set, meeting the Wesmen at the net for a few blocks and hammering down kills from the outside and the back row.
Mount Royal came to set point, up by three on the Wesmen. Winnipeg was able to battle back to push the score beyond 25.
Enter Jace Timmer.
The veteran Cougar served an ace to make it 27-26 and MRU wrapped it up after a passing error from the Wesmen.
After a hard-fought set victory, Mount Royal had to fight again. The Wesmen went up early, forcing the Cougars to reevaluate their tactics. Settling into the set, MRU surged ahead. Led by another superb set from Haronga the Cougars rallied to win by four and take a 2-1 lead.
Isaiah Olfert was lethal from behind the service line, filling the scoresheet with a game-high five aces.
Neither squad could find their groove in the fourth and went error-for-error. The line judges were kept busy with the two sides serving overly aggressively.
The Wesmen were finally able to limit their errors, forcing a fifth set. The roaring Kenyon crowd began to feel the nerves with the Cougars season on the line.
In the fifth set, Mount Royal felt the energy of their fans. Jace Timmer met Olfert at the net for an emphatic stuff, bringing the crowd to their feet.
The Cougars powered through to take the final set, evening the series at one. Chris Byam was the difference-maker for Mount Royal, recording playoff career-highs of 24 kills and seven blocks. Even in an extraordinary individual performance, the Bow Island, Alta. product directed the credit to his teammates.
“The connection felt really good with the setters,” explained Byam. “The guys on the bench talking a lot, letting me know where [Winnipeg] is and what’s open was a huge help.”
Tied at one in the series the Cougars and Wesmen will play a deciding third match Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m. MST for a spot in the Canada West semifinals. Tickets can be purchased online and the game can be streamed live on Canada West TV.