WINNIPEG – The Mount Royal Cougars (4-0) utilized a versatile offensive attack to stymie the 0-2 Manitoba Bisons 3-1 (25-17, 24-26, 25-20, 25-16) on Sunday evening at Investors Group Athletic Centre.
Eight different players had at least a kill for the visitors, led by outsider hitter Chantel Park's 14. Impact subs Cassidy Kitchen, Tasha Holness and Haley Roe also added eight total kills, a service ace and six blocks.
"[Holness] is just getting her feet under her, it's been a while since she's played," Cougars head coach Sandra Lamb said postgame. "She's just a bundle of energy and always so encouraging. It's really nice to see her get some good blocks."
Manitoba was paced by first-year middle Light Uchuchekwu's 12 kills, while left side Kearley Abbott had nine and middle Allison Alcock added eight.
Manitoba put themselves in a bit of a hole in the first set and couldn't bounce back, falling 25-17 after recording seven errors in a set that featured very few rallies.
Offensively, the Cougars had a .364 attacking percentage, led by outsider hitters Park and Madison Marshall's four kills. Abbott and right side Laura Hill had three kills each for the Bisons, whose attack efficiency was just .094.
The second set was back-and-forth, as Park continued to command the offensive charge for the Cougars with multiple kills. Manitoba was able to score seven of the last eight points prior to the technical timeout however, and led 16-8.
Bisons middle Grace van der Meer was excellent at the service line, including an ace as well as a few drop serves that led to points.
Lamb made a few adjustments to her lineup that paid off towards the latter half of the set, as Holness and Kitchen combined for four kills and a 24-23 lead.
But Manitoba fought back to win, as Uchuchekwu recorded back-to-back kills to even things up. Through two she had a team-high eight kills and .222 attacking percentage.
Serve-receive was the story entering the technical timeout of the third set, as the two teams combined for seven service aces. Hill executed back-to-back drop serves, however Quinn Pelland responded with a double for her side as well in a 16-15 lead.
The visitors took control in the back half, thanks in part to strong defensive play that included 21 digs. Roe substituted into the contest and had a kill and two big blocks in the 25-20 win.
Manitoba took an early 6-3 lead in the fourth set, but couldn't hold on, falling 25-16. Davies was massive during Mount Royal's comeback with four aces.
Next up for Manitoba is a road tilt against UBC Okanagan while Mount Royal will also be on the road against UBC.
