CALGARY - Another season has come and gone and the Mount Royal Cougars Athletics and Recreation department hosted their annual Cougar Night at the Bella Concert Hall to celebrate the successes of the latest U SPORTS season.
EDMONTON – A total of five players in their first or second year of eligibility were honoured as 2017-18 Canada West women’s volleyball all-stars Tuesday, as the conference’s youth movement in the sport was on full display.
CALGARY - The final Under Armour & Players Bench Athletes of the Week for the week of Feb. 20-26 are men's hockey's Tanner Olstad and women's volleyball's Anna Carlson.
CALGARY - What better way to end the season then the two Calgary teams facing off? The Cougars took on the Dinos on Kenyon court for the last game of the 2017/18 season. Although they lacked home court advantage it was the Dinos who came out on top in four sets after a close fight. The final scores were 25-18, 25-22, 21-25 and 25-22.
CALGARY – The third-ranked University of Calgary Dinos women's volleyball team faced some stiff competition in their final home game of the regular season, being forced into a fifth set before beating the cross-town rival Mount Royal Cougars 3-2 (25-13, 21-25, 25-19, 21-25, and 15-10) on Thursday night at the Jack Simpson Gym.
BRANDON – The Brandon Bobcats showed some late signs of life but it was too little too late as the visiting Mount Royal Cougars picked up a big 3-1 (25-20, 25-15, 24-26, 25-23) win to move one step closer to clinching a playoff spot on Saturday evening at the BU Healthy Living Centre.
BRANDON – In what was essentially a must-win match for both the Brandon Bobcats and Mount Royal Cougars, the Cougars mounted an impressive comeback to tie the Bobcats in the Canada West standings. The Cougars battled back from a 2-0 deficit to take the match 3-2 (23-25, 19-25, 25-15, 25-17, 15-6) in front of a loud and raucous crowd.
WINNIPEG— The University of Manitoba Bisons push win streak to three straight in home win over Mount Royal University Cougars, 3-1 (25-13, 25-20, 20-25, 25-19) in women's volleyball on Friday (Feb. 2) at Investors Group Athletic Centre.
Despite the Cougars pushing the game to four sets, the Bisons were able to maintain the momentum from their first half to pull off the win.
WINNIPEG – The Mount Royal University Cougars split a weekend series with the University of Manitoba Bisons following a 3-0 (20-25, 21-25, 18-25) win at the Investors Group Athletic Centre on Saturday, Feb. 3
EDMONTON – The recipe for a victory can sometimes be so difficult. Ask the MacEwan Griffins who suffered through a 12-game losing streak in the first semester of the Canada West women’s volleyball season.
CALGARY - Coming off a split weekend the Mount Royal Cougars were hopeful for a win as they took on the University of Alberta Pandas. The two teams met on Kenyon court on Jan. 12, 2018 for the first match of the weekend. After four hard-fought sets, the Cougars came out on top. The final scores were 25-14, 21-25, 25-21 and 25-21.
CALGARY - The Mount Royal Cougars came into Saturday's game looking to take 2 straight and sweep the weekend versus the University of Alberta Pandas at Kenyon Court. A hard fought battle between these two evenly matched teams would end with the Pandas winning in 5 sets 21-25, 25-12, 22-25, 25-21, 16-14. Julia Zonneveld for the Pandas and Allisa Danndenault for the Cougars were the Booster Juice Players of the Game
CALGARY - After winning their first match of the New Year the Cougars were unable to secure a second win. The Cougars took on the WolfPack for their second meeting of the weekend at Keynon Court. The WolfPack took the match in four sets. The final scores were, 19-25, 29-27, 25-16 and 25-20.
CALGARY – Jan. 5, 2018 marked the first game of the New Year and second semester for The Mount Royal Cougars. Playing their first game back on home court versus the Thompson Rivers University WolfPack. After a refreshing holiday break the Cougars were able to secure a wine. The final scores were 25-18, 25-21 16-21 and 25-17.
CALGARY – The Cougars women’s volleyball team battled injuries nearing the end of the first half and walked away with a 5-7 record, a couple of Top Ten rankings, and a whole lot of volleyball to play in 2018.
CALGARY – At the Academic All-Canadians breakfast on Dec. 5, presented by Enterprise, forty-one of the Mount Royal University Cougars' student-athletes in four faculties have been named U SPORTS Academic All-Canadians for the 2016-17 season.
CALGARY – The Cougars were unable to shut down the Thunderbirds on Kenyon Court. After night one of a two-night match up the Thunderbirds were up three sets to zero. The Cougars came in fighting on night two but were unable to defeat the Thunderbirds after taking them to five sets. The final scores of the second night matches were 25-22, 25-17, 17-25,12-25 and 15-12.
CALGARY - The University of British Columbia Thunderbirds take a clean sweep on night one of a two-night matchup versus the Mount Royal Cougars. The teams met for game one of two on Kenyon Court tonight, and the Thunderbirds took the match in three sets. The final scores were 25-17, 20-25 and 25-15.
SASKATOON – The University of Saskatchewan Huskies defeated the Mount Royal University Cougars in a five-set thriller (25-23, 21-25, 21-25, 25-12, 15-13) Saturday night at Ron & Jane Centre Court at the PAC. With the win, Saskatchewan record improves to 4-6. Mount Royal falls to 5-4.
SASKATOON – The University of Saskatchewan Huskies fell to the Mount Royal University Cougars in four sets (25-21, 24-26, 25-17, 25-12) Friday night on Ron & Jane Graham Centre Court at the PAC. Fifth-year Alex Donaghy lead the Cougars with match-highs in kills and service aces; 16 and five respectively. Donaghy also added 10 digs and four assists. Third-year Chantel Park had 13 kills and four digs while adding an assist and a service ace of her own.
For the Huskies, second-year Emily Koshinsky recorded a team-high seven kills and 10 digs, adding an assist and two services aces.
LANGLEY, B.C. – Trinity Western’s Hilary Howe (Calgary) had match-high 14 kills to lead the Spartans to a 3-0 (25-12, 25-14, 25-20) win over No. 8-ranked Mount Royal Saturday at the Langley Events Centre.
LANGLEY, British Columbia – The unranked Trinity Western Spartans earned a straight set win over No. 8 Mount Royal Cougars tonight at the Langley Events Centre, in Langley, B.C. The 25-17, 25-19, and 25-12 victory improves TWU to 4-3, while the loss drops MRU to 4-3.
CALGARY-It’s a clean sweep yet again on home court for the Mount Royal Cougars women’s volleyball team. It was the second home game of the season as Mount Royal took on the Regina Cougars. There was only room for one Cougars team to come out victorious, and Mount Royal came out on top. They took the match in three sets with scores of 25-20, 25-16 and 25-15.
CALGARY – The Regina Cougars earned a road weekend split after a 3-2 (25-13, 14-25, 12-25, 26-24, 15-10) victory over the Mount Royal Cougars. In the first, Regina came out flying and went up 7-1 before MRU head coach Sandra Lamb was forced to call a timeout. Sloppy play, miscommunications on defense and bad passing contributed to a tough first set for the hosting Cougars. They were unable to put together a comeback and dropped the first set 25-13.
CALGARY - With no home games this weekend for the Mount Royal Cougars, both volleyball and basketball teams went west. In beautiful British Columbia, two athletes earned the Under Armour and Players Bench Athlete of the Week Honours for the week of Oct. 30 to Nov. 5.
KELOWNA, B.C. – The UBC Okanagan Heat earned a weekend split against the visiting Mount Royal Cougars, with a 3-1 victory on home court Saturday night. The second of the weekend's two matches saw a more dominant Heat attack, meaning there was no need for another five-set nail-biter as the Friday night match was.
The Heat were at their most dominant in the final two sets, evidently on a mission to close out a win after dropping the second set to the Cougars. Hitting .308 and burying 12 kills in the final frame, the Heat had their defence on display as well in the clinching set as the Cougars put away eight kills and finished with a hitting percentage of .000.
Once again it was Ann Richards and Siobhan Fitzpatrick leading the way for the Heat attack, and on the other side of the ball the Cougars hitters were all kept out of double-digits in the kills category, especially impressive considering that Alexy Donaghy and Chantel Park had combined for 39 kills the night before.
First Set: (25-17)
Mount Royal jumped out to an early lead in the opening frame, pulling ahead 7-3 thanks to a five-point run bolstered by a pair of kills and an ace. The Heat responded with a run of their own, stringing together 10 straight points, that included six kills and three service aces, to pull ahead 13-7. Scoring five of the next seven points, the Cougars pulled within three, but were down 16-12 after Siobhan Fitzpatrick gave the Heat a 16-12 lead at the break with her second kill of the set.
Out of the break the Heat defenders were a force, keeping the Cougars from scoring consecutive points from then on. Three kills from Ann Richards drove the Heat attack in the closing-out of the set, and Okanagan setter Sara McCreary provided the final point with her seventh kill of the season.
Second Set: (20-25)
The Heat had the lead early on in the first, but five straight points for the Cougars put them ahead 10-6 and forced a time-out call by UBCO. The Heat scored directly out of the time-out, on a kill by Michelle Jakszuk, but another time-out was needed after MRU put together three-straight to pull ahead 15-8. A big block by Carly Davies and Cassidy Kitchen gave the Cougars a 16-8 lead at the technical time-out.
After the break the Heat gained some momentum, scoring six of the next eight points and making it 19-15, forcing a Cougars time-out. UBCO pulled within three twice late, down 20-17 and 23-20, but Alex Donaghy and Carly Davies brought the Cougars to set point and a mishit on a Heat swing closed out the set to tie the match up at 1-1.
Third Set: (25-17)
Mount Royal took control early on in the third set, scoring three straight kills to go up 3-1 and then forcing a Heat time-out after stretching the lead to 9-5. Shortly after that time-out the Heat scored six straight to tie it up at 11-11, before taking the lead on a Sara McCreary ace amidst another run that had them taking a 16-13 lead into the technical time-out.
Three kills and an ace after the break had the Heat up 20-14, forcing a Mount Royal time-out. Back-to-back blocks, from Richards and Drew and then a solo shut-down by Aidan Lea, made it 22-15. Another block, this time by Jakszuk and Lea, made it set point, and Natalie Livingston buried the final point to put the Heat up 2-1.
Fourth Set: (25-14)
The teams traded leads through the early part of the fourth set, with (5) ties and three lead changes before the Heat managed to string four straight points together and force an MRU time-out. The Heat defence at the net shut down the Cougars hitters, with blocking and forcing hitters to miss outside, and UBCO rolled into the media time-out up 16-9.
A pair of Cougars errors led into a five-point run after that for the Heat, centred around a pair of Ann Richards' kills and a perfectly-placed service ace by Siobhan Fitzpatrick. Skye Thompson and Aidan Lea had a pair of kills that combined with a big block by Lea and Richards to set up match point for the Heat, and Thompson buried another one to lock up the win.
Key Performers:
UBC Okanagan:
Ann Richards and Siobhan Fitzpatrick were the most successful hitters on the night for the Heat, putting away 14 kills (.219K%) and 12 kills (.212K%) respectively.
Sara McCreary finished with another 40-assist match, also earning a pair of kills, three service aces, and four digs to her stat line.
Sophia Furlan had a match-high 21 digs, and Aidan Lea had a match-high six blocks and added seven kills for good measure.
MRU:
Alex Donaghy and Ciera Talbot tied for the team-high in kills, with nine apiece, followed closely behind by Carly Davies, who had eight. Davies also had a team-high five total blocks.
Setter Allisa Dandenault finished with 35 assists, a service ace, and seven digs. Cassidy Kitchen finished the match with the team-high in digs, pulling up 12.
By the Numbers:
The Heat were able to keep the Cougars hitters in check on Saturday night, holding them to 40 kills on a .099 hitting percentage. In the first and fourth sets, the MRU hitters were held to a .000 hitting percentage collectively.
The Heat were the more dominant hitting team, finishing with 50 kills and hitting .229 for the match. They also finished ahead in service aces (9-5), assists (45-38), blocks (11-6), and digs (60-54).
Next Up:
The UBC Okanagan Heat (4-2) will play next weekend against the MacEwan Griffins (0-4), heading to Edmonton for a pair of matches on Friday, November 10 and Saturday, November 11.
The Mount Royal Cougars (3-1) will have their next matches at home, as they host the Regina Cougars (2-3) on November 10 & 11.
Donaghy highlights annual Cougar Night
March 28, 2018CALGARY - Another season has come and gone and the Mount Royal Cougars Athletics and Recreation department hosted their annual Cougar Night at the Bella Concert Hall to celebrate the successes of the latest U SPORTS season.
