CALGARY - The Mount Royal University Cougars split the weekend against the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds to head into a third and final match. After a close battle for the lead, the Cougars won it in the fourth set, 3-1. 

Cougars head coach Sandra Lamb was satisfied with her team's efforts this round: "We definitely played a bit better defence and our consistency with our serving. We gave them a bit more trouble than we did last night. Overall, I think we just played a lot better and kept it flowing a lot better."

Thunderbirds head coach Doug Reimer acknowledged the shift of tides and is ready for round three: "I think on our side we just totally gave away the first set. We had a massive lead and just didn't get it done. And the second set Mount Royal played really well defensively, cranked it up… We had some good performances yesterday and we just didn't quite match it today."

The set scores were (MRU-UBC): 26-24, 25-17, 23-25, and 25-16. 

For Mount Royal, Dholi Thokbuom led with 15 points and 11 kills, followed by Haley Roe with 12.5 points and 10 kills. For British Columbia, Olivia Furlan and Anna Price led with 13 points and nine kills each. 

Mount Royal's Cassidy Kitchen was blocked for the first point, but then earned a strong kill to retaliate. The Thunderbirds soon earned a six point lead early in the set which the Cougars chipped away at as they regrouped their efforts. Thunderbirds' Furlan landed a series of service aces to hold the team strong. Just as it seemed they were going to run away with the score, the Cougars brought it to a two point gap. They coordinated to block several attempts by the Thunderbirds, tying the score at 24. Thokbuom continued their string of blocks to seal the final two points of the set. 

Thunderbirds' Tessa Davis and Price opened the second set with two strong kills. The Cougars soon retaliated and pulled into a four point lead. It became a tense battle of trading points as the Thunderbirds attempted to close the score gap. Mount Royal was exhibiting some tough defences, proving it difficult for the Thunderbirds to sneak points through. However, B.C. was capitalizing on kill opportunities, led by Furlan. The Cougars were able to hold their lead steady and take the set with a series of final blocks. 

The third set was evenly matched as they traded points early on. Mount Royal was holding strong with their blocks while the Thunderbirds were taking every opportunity for kills. British Columbia pulled ahead for a brief moment with two points which turned into a four kill series. The Cougars narrowed the gap at the last minute with a handful of service aces, but the Thunderbirds sealed it with two final kills. 

Mount Royal began the fourth set with a hefty lead, giving the Thunderbirds only a single point opportunity before they reached an eight point gap. They showed strong defences, blocking most of the attempts to score, at one point using every available limb. The Thunderbirds managed to slow their advance by strengthening their own defences. However, the Cougars earned a series of kills, Roe leading the charge. They held their wide lead until a final kill from Tasha Holness won the match for the Cougars. 

Reimer was disappointed, but eager for another day: "That's why we play the game. Hopefully we'll just get rested, recovered, and ready to go!"

Lamb wasn't about to be overconfident, stressing that they still had quite a bit of work to go this weekend: "It's just another grind… They've got a lot of guns over there. Just being able to understand which rotations are coming at us and again we just gotta get ready with our defence and our blocking."

The Cougars will face off against the Thunderbirds for the final time this weekend to break the split at 3 P.M. MST on Kenyon Court.