Calgary, AB – The Alberta Golden Bears showed why they are the second ranked team in the nation, downing Mount Royal 3-0 (25-17, 25-23, 25-20) on Friday Night at Kenyon. Canada West's leading scorer Ryan Nickifor, was brilliant scoring a game-high 20.0 points. Jordan Parkin led the Cougars in scoring with 12.5 points in three sets.

After an even start to the first set, the Golden Bears rattled off five straight points to go up 8-4. The Golden Bears dominated the middle of the court early with Taylor Arnett crushing the ball down the pipe. Down 12-6 the Cougars were forced to take a timeout.

When the Cougars were able to grab a point, carless service errors killed their momentum. Alberta's power proved too much for the Cougars in the first, as they took the first 25-17.

Deep misses at the service line and unforced errors became a concern for both sides early in the match. Mount Royal grabbed the 6-4 lead after an Alberta service error and a lift violation to start the second. This set remained much closer than first as the two sides remained deadlocked at 14 half way through. Costly errors hurt the Cougars again falling to 18-14, forcing Shawn Sky to call another timeout.

Mount Royal brought it back to within at 21-19 off a kill by Andrew McWilliam. Then off an errant block by the Golden Bears, Mount Royal tied it 23. Ryan Nickifor hit a beautiful ball down the line to give Alberta set point. The ensuing serve proved too hot for Mike Wickstrom, who was called for the lift, giving Alberta the 25-23 second set victory.

Alberta was in complete control in the third set. They started the set on an 8-3 run with a combination of power and finesse. Mount Royal's power game was stymied at nearly every turn and Alberta capitalized.

The Golden Bears went up 16-9 in the second half before Shawn Sky used his final timeout. It seemed to work as the Cougars rattled off four straight points to bring the game back to 16-13, forcing Alberta to take their first timeout. However it was not enough, a vicious kill into the chest of Andrew McWilliam finished off Mount Royal, dropping the third and final set 25-20.

The Cougars suffer their first loss and fall to 4-1 on the season.  Alberta remains unbeaten, moving to 3-0 in Canada West regular season play.

Mount Royal and Alberta will play the second match of their weekend set tomorrow afternoon on Kenyon Court. Game time is scheduled for 5pm.