CALGARY - The Mount Royal University Cougars won a well-matched victory against the University of Winnipeg Wesmen on Kenyon Court. The teams traded places in the lead until the Cougars pulled ahead and won the night 3-0. 

The set scores were: 28-26, 25-20, and 27-25.

For Mount Royal, Dholi Thokbuom led with 20 points and 18 kills, followed by Cassidy Kitchen with 14 points and 11 kills. For Winnipeg, Ashleigh Laube led with 12 points and eight kills, followed by Kalena Schulz with 10 points and seven kills. 

For the first, Mount Royal took an early lead by three points with some successful snipes and kills, Chantel Park setting the pace. Winnipeg soon found their momentum, allowing Emma Parker an opportunity to land some kills to narrow the score. The teams were trading advantages, finding their points in a series each time. The Wesmen nearly took the lead as the Cougars approached 24 points, but some quick kills secured the set for Mount Royal. 

Park landed some precise aces to open the scoring in the second, but the Wesmen soon took the advantage to pull ahead. They nailed several kills to slightly widen their lead and capitalized on some Cougars errors. Mount Royal caught up to them at 18 points and pulled ahead with a series of points from the entire lineup. Parker and Laube snuck a couple more points in for the Wesmen, but the Cougars took the set with a final kill by Thokbuom. 

The third set was a tough battle of trading points as they fought for an advantage. Winnipeg pulled ahead after four points, holding onto a slight lead with their well-placed strikes. However, the Cougars matched them at 16 and fought for the lead. Winnipeg held strong, maintaining a single point advantage over Mount Royal. A series of kills by Thokbuom pulled her team ahead just enough to gain momentum, which they carried to win the match with a final block by Kitchen and Tasha Holness. 

The two teams will continue to battle it out for a spot in the playoffs on Saturday, February 15th, on Kenyon Court. It will be broadcasted live on CanadaWest.tv, presented by Co-op.