Calgary, AB – The Mount Royal Cougars won their first game on home court 3-2 (19-25, 18-25, 25-20, 25-23, 15-10) over the Regina Cougars on Friday night at Kenyon Court. Kylie Willis led all scorers with 16 points on the evening. Kristine Ward led Regina with 14 points on the night.
Mount Royal got off to a shaky start in the first set, making several unforced errors that Regina was able to capitalize on. MRU battled back to tie the score at 15 before a timeout. Off the timeout Regina went on a massive 8-3 run to take a stranglehold on the set. Kyla Payette then put home the final point to give Regina the 25-19 victory.
The second set was more of the same as Regina got off to a 10-6 run. The teams traded points but the hole was just too deep for the Cougars to crawl out of. Regina won the set 25-18 and took a commanding 2-0 lead in the match.
The young Mount Royal team could have folded right there but instead they dug deep and went shot for shot with Regina until it was tied 10-10. Rookie standout Carolina Alongi got to the service line and delivered four straight points giving MRU the lead. Two more great services by Nicky Zalasky and Jenna Smith got MRU all the way to 23-19 before Regina was forced to take another timeout. Off a Nicole Smith serve, Regina put their kill into the net and Mount Royal won their first set 25-20.
Mount Royal's momentum kept growing in a tight fourth set. Neither side ever held more than a three point advantage all the way to the end. An emphatic kill by Alex Donaghy lifted Mount Royal to 25-23 set victory, squaring the match at two set a piece.
In the fifth and final set Mount Royal would not be stopped. At 5-5, Taylor Pelland came up with a huge kill to give MRU the lead. From there they went on a 5-1 run to put a stranglehold on the match. Fittingly it was Carolina Alongi that put down the final two kills of the match, giving Mount Royal a 15-10 set victory.
The loss drops Regina's record to 0-3 on the year. The win lifts Mount Royal to 1-2 after three regular season contests.
These two will have their rematch in less than 24 hours as the battle of the Cougars resumes at 7:00pm tomorrow night on Kenyon Court.