The Mount Royal Cougars men’s volleyball team won their home opener against the University of British Columbia Okanagan Heat 3-1 (25-13, 23-25, 25-20, 25-17) on Kenyon Court tonight.
The Cougars came out aggressive in the first set, scoring the first point of the game and many more early by utilizing their towering size. With outside hitter Max Haronga leading the defense as libero, the Cougars turned the Heat’s temperature down to a freeze and put them down six early in the set, including three early missed serves. Any long rallies went in favour of the Cougars as they took the first set convincingly, 25-13.
The game looked much more competitive in the second set as the Heat managed to regain momentum and started to kill the ball with confidence and strength. Even the Cougars’ big size couldn’t save them from their inability to consistently set up their middle-of-the-court attacks, depending on their stars Chris Byam and Jacob Van Geel to keep them competitive. The Heat were able to block a series of attempted kills as a result and key in on the Cougars’ subpar execution, going up three points in the middle of the set. The Heat closed the set on a 6-4 run to win it 25-23 and go into the third set tied 1-1 for the game.
The Cougars seemed to take this burst of energy from the Heat personally in the third set, going up 7-4 early on. Van Geel, Jovan Stepanovic, and Byam led the Cougars with strong kills too hard to be stopped. The Cougars also cleaned up their act with great communication on their back line, not falling for any of the fake spikes, drops or shots sailing out of bounds. Van Geel in particular showed off his creativity this set, faking a big kill spike to set up a light drop in the middle to score and following that up with one of the hardest kills of the game to help lead the Cougars in taking the third set 25-20.
The Cougars put the game away in the fourth set by putting on an absolute clinic defensively. Serves were the biggest strength for the Cougars in this set, as Samson Olsen opened it up with an ace. Haronga kept up his great communication, and Luis Lange, with his ability to glide through the air, scored the final point, won the set 25-17 and the game 3-1.
The Cougar’s size and execution was easily the story of the game. Star-level performances from Jovan Stepanovic, Luis Lange, and Chris Byam were huge contributors in their efforts to seal the game, but it was the dominant play of Jacob Van Geel that put the team over the top in this incredible win, giving him Player of the Game honours.
The Cougars Men’s Volleyball team face the University of British Columbia Okanagan Heat for a rematch on Saturday night on Kenyon Court at Mount Royal University again at 7:00 P.M.