WVB: Cougars come out strong but fall short in matchup against Griffins

Box Score The Mount Royal University Cougars (2-8, 10th in CanadaWest) women’s volleyball team took on the Grant MacEwan University Griffins (7-3, 5th in CanadaWest) on Kenyon Court, but couldn’t defend their home hardwood as they lost in four sets (25-17, 17-25, 23-25, 22-25).

The Cougars performed their best in the match’s opening set, as Emma Boyd opened the scoring early with the first kill of the night. As the teams traded points, the Cougars’ ability to kill and block flummoxed the Griffins. Boyd’s remarkable 55.6% kill conversion rate, combined with the cat-like reflexes of Bronwynn Davies-Neir and Sydney Scatcherd’s blocking, gave the Cougars a dominant 25-17 set win.

However, this would be the only victory the Cougars would take for the rest of the night as the Griffins woke up in the second set. Even as Boyd turned up her defensive intensity, MacEwan capitalized on a myriad of Mount Royal errors and took the set 25-17. 

The third set was the most tightly contested matchup of the night, featuring extended rallies that the Cougars could not stay locked in long enough to win. The Griffins showed off their moxie as they made hustling dive after hustling dive, turning digs into perfectly placed sets for ear-ringing kills. MRU tied the game at 23 with some late-set efforts, but GMU showed their composure in clutch moments as they scored back-to-back kills and won the set 25-23

The Cougars started the fourth set with tangible tenacity, as Osczevski capped off an 8-6 opening run with a kill that sent three Griffins diving and colliding into each other. The Griffins maintained composure and matched their intensity, responding with run after run catalyzed by more Cougar errors. Mount Royal did everything they could to try and save the set with late back-to-back kills, but the great playmaking of MacEwan University setter Payton Shimoda, who had 44 of her team’s 50 assists, buried the Cougars with a final set score of 25-22 and a match score of 3-1.

Cougar of the Game honours went to Emma Boyd, who led her team with six kills on 11 attempts with only one error, as well as four digs to help her team defensively.

The Cougars will be looking for redemption tomorrow as they rematch against the Griffins at 5 p.m. on Kenyon Court.