CALGARY, AB – The Saskatchewan Huskies women’s volleyball team was defeated by the MRU Cougars 3-2 (25-23, 24-26, 25-19, 16-25, 15-6) in a strenuous five-set thriller Friday night at Kenyon Court.
THE HIGHLIGHTS
Mount Royal’s attack guided them to a first-set win, with the Cougars putting down 13 kills compared to the Huskies’ three. Bronwynn Davies-Neira was MRU’s go-to option, with Lexi Herrod setting Davies-Neira consistently. The Cougars established control of the game, with the first set in their favour.
Saskatchewan’s attack improved in the second set. Abbey Klein put together five kills in the set as the Cougars and Huskies traded points back and forth to force the set to go beyond 25 points. The Huskies were able to grind out a 26-24 win to even up the set score.
After posting 12 service errors through the first three sets, Mount Royal did not commit an error on the serve for the rest of the game. Jessica Osczevski and Bronwynn Davies-Neira combined for a total of seven aces in the game.
The trio of Osczevski, Davies-Neira and Emma Boyd accelerated the Cougars to a 2-1 set lead after a dominating third set. Boyd registered a career-high 17 kills on the night.
As Saskatchewan’s men’s team had done earlier in the evening, the women’s squad forced a fifth and deciding set. Abbey Klein put together her second five-kill set of the night to force a fifth set as the game pushed late into the night.
MRU jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the fifth set thanks to consecutive aces by Jessica Osczevski, forcing Saskatchewan to call a timeout. The Huskies regained a few points, but it was not enough to claw back. The Cougars cruised to their third win of the season with a convincing 15-6 final set win.
THE STATS
MRU’s Emma Boyd would lead the game in kills with 17. Saskatchewan’s Abbey Klein would follow close behind with 14, leading in kills for the Huskies.
The Huskies would have 4.0 total team blocks, and the Cougars with 11.0.
Olivia Mattern (SSK) would lead the game in service aces, having 4.
Cougars’ Jessica Osczevski would lead in digs, getting up 11 balls off of Huskie swings. Olivia Mattern would follow close behind with 10.
THE STANDINGS
The loss will move Saskatchewan’s record to 5-10, and the win will improve MRU to 3-12.
NEXT UP
MRU and Saskatchewan will settle their differences on the court for a second time on Saturday at 5 p.m. at Mount Royal University. Fans can purchase tickets online or stream the game live on Canada West TV.
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