CALGARY - The Mount Royal Cougars took game two of the Canada West semifinals in a gritty battle with the Alberta Pandas Saturday night.

The second seed Cougars looked to bounce back from a tough game Friday night that saw the third seed Pandas win three sets to one. The visiting green and gold Pandas were looking to close out the series and lock in a spot in the Canada West Championship.

The first set was within one point until 11-11 when the Pandas took off and grabbed a seven point lead. Alberta's offense was buzzing in the first thanks in part to the impressive back row ability of Kory White. Cougars outside Haley Roe subbed in at 21-13 and immediately made a difference finishing her first two attacking opportunities. The visitors would end up taking this one 25-18.

The Cougars would come back strong in the second set jumping out to a lead and holding onto it through the technical timeout. Dholi Thokbuom was strong in this one helping lead the home squad to a 25-19 set win tying the match up at one set a piece.

The momentum would stay with the Cougars into the third set as they jumped into a 5-1 lead. They would maintain the score gap until the Pandas rallied back with some great blocks making the score 13-10. It was back and forth after that with the Pandas climbing their way back into the set by the technical closing the gap to one point.The Cougars wouldn't let the momentum swing against them though as they returned to the court with an aggressive offense and won the set 25-19.

The blue and white got off to a hot start in the fourth going up six to one but the Pandas weren't willing to give up easily. They fought hard against a lud Kenyon Court crowd to keep the lead from getting out of reach. Cassidy Kitchen was on fire again Saturday and she helped get the Cougars to the technical timeout with a five point lead. Alberta would not give in coming back strong after the break but the Cougars weren't willing to give any ground. They remained solid at the net and toot the fourth set 25-18.

Panda's Assistant Coach Carolyn O'Dwyer said, "I think Mount Royal served really well and that got us out of system. We need to figure out a way to slow down their middles a little bit. For us it's about resetting and not letting the atmosphere get to us. We were here last week and I think we know what to do and we'll come back stronger tomorrow."

Cougars Head Coach Sandra Lamb was impressed with the way her team battled in game two, "We passed a lot better and kept the pressure on them with the serve game, overall a really gritty effort from them. They were having a lot of fun, the crowd was great again chanting away. The girls knew it was on the line and they stayed in it mentally so I'm really proud of them."

Leading the game in kills for the Cougars was Nyadholi Thokbuom with 14 while Kory White was solid again for the Pandas with 21. The two teams will now play a third series deciding match Sunday at 3:00pm MST. The winner heads to the Canada West Championship and the loser will have to play for their chance at a berth in the National Championship tournament.