Calgary, AB – The Alberta Pandas completed the weekend sweep of the Mount Royal Cougars, defeating them 3-1 (25-19, 26-24, 22-25, 25-16) Saturday night on Kenyon Court. Meg Casault had a dominating performance for Alberta, scoring a game-high 24.0 points. Taylor Pelland led all Cougars with 15.5 points.
Alberta got off to a hot start, scoring the first three points until Taylor Pelland broke the streak with a sneaky little tip over the blockers. The Pandas were sharp again tonight, reading the Cougars' plays and positioning themselves perfectly on defence. With Alberta up 9-4, Sandra Lamb was forced to call the game's first timeout.
Out of the stoppage, Alberta came out swinging. They jumped all over the Cougars, increasing their lead to 18-10. Every attack Mount Royal had, Alberta had an answer. The Panda's power just overwhelmed the Cougars and Alberta took the set 25-19.
Sandra Lamb changed up the lineup in the second set, moving Maddi Quinn to libero and inserting Chantel Park to the outside hitter position. The shuffle paid off early as the Cougars took an early 10-4 lead. The Cougars' momentum startled the Pandas, who promptly took a timeout.
The Cougars had a commanding lead but started to let the Pandas back into the match. Attack errors and serves into the net let Alberta right back in. At 20-17, the Cougars lost serve and the Pandas began to pick up momentum.
Tied at 23, Alex Donaghy put away a monster smash to give Mount Royal their first set point of the weekend. Unable to convert, the Pandas won two straight, setting up set point. Chantel Park then hit the ball long, giving the Pandas the 26-24 set victory.
Mount Royal came out gunning off the restart, jumping out to a 6-2 lead that led to an early Pandas timeout. The Cougars dictated the pace, running their lead all the way up 14-9. Mount Royal opened up a big 21-14 lead out of an Alberta timeout. The Pandas came all the way back to 24-22 but unlike the second set, the Cougars would not squander this opportunity, putting themselves back in the match, with a 25-22 victory.
Alberta took charge at the beginning of the fourth, opening up a 4-1 lead. Alberta's power game re-emerged as they took a 10-6 lead into a timeout. The Cougars were forced to call another timeout at 16-8. It did not help the Cougars as they surrendered the next three points. The Pandas' weapons proved to be too numerous as they won the set 25-16 and the match 3-1.
The Cougars fall to 2-4 in Canada West regular season play. The #2 ranked Pandas improve their record to a perfect 4-0 on the season.
Alberta will return home next weekend when they host the Saskatchewan Huskies on Friday night.
Mount Royal will head 1,300 kilometers east for a date with the Manitoba Bisons on Friday evening.