Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

Home Games:

MVB: TWU (3) at MRU (2)

The Cougars came out hungry for redemption but walked away after a tough fought five set loss against the Spartans.

MRU was determined to protect their house and take the win tonight, pushing the game through extra points and into a fifth set, with Trinity eventually taking the win 22-25, 25-22, 31-33, 27-25 and 11-15.

There was a different energy in Kenyon tonight, with a huge performance from Chris Byam, Max Haronga and Luis Lange. Lange was hitting 100 per cent for the first two sets and finished the night with 12 kills and a 75 per cent hit average.

Byam was instrumental with 20 kills, two blocks and four digs. Jace Timmer also had a good night on attack, with 14 kills. 

Haronga was a defensive necessity, with 32 receptions and four digs.

The first set saw TWU out perform MRU on stats with a 77 per cent average for the team, but defeated themselves with 10 service errors which pushed MRU to the win. 

But both teams went back-and-forth for the next two hours of play. 

The fourth set was packed with jaw-dropping blocks from unexpected candidates. Rookie Tate stepped in and shut down TWU's attack in his second play as a Cougar. Followed shortly by Jackson Brennan, pushing the Cougars to another set with extra points. 

But the fifth and final set saw aggressive and determined play both ways with libero Grffin Butler throwing himself in all directions to keep his team in play and Jackson Brennan finding a way to get to the perfect spot to set. 

Butler finished with 27 receptions  while Brennan had 52 assists.

On Trinity's side, four players were able to hit over 10 kills into MRU's side. Ahead of the rest was Brodie Hofer and Jesse Elser with 18 and 19 respectively. The team finished tonight with seven service aces and a 42 per cent attack average on 125 attempts. 

"These guys have proven every year that they are one of the teams to beat. They're usually the top team in the country and they played well," said Lange, MRU player of the game. "We were right there with them right? Just a couple of runs, a couple of points. And I think we can hang in with these guys at any point." 

Regardless of the score, this was an unbelievably high caliber game and one of the best games Kenyon Court has ever witnessed, with the decision separated by just a handful of points. Tonight truly demonstrated the grit and ability that this 2022-23 squad possesses and shows the conference that they are a notable threat. 

The men are on the road next weekend to take on the UFV Cascades, starting Friday night at 6 p.m.

Catch the game on Canada West TV.

Go Cougars.

Player of the game: Luis Lange


MHKY: SSK (0) at MRU (6)
 
The Mount Royal University Cougars men's hockey defeated the University of Saskatchewan Huskies 6-0 in Saturday night's penalty filled affair at Flames Community Arena.
 
The Cougars wasted no time to jump ahead. Spencer Moe scored 17 seconds into the game to open the scoring. Remy Aquilon's point shot was saved but Moe kicked up the rebound to his own stick and then past Huskies' goalie, Roddy Ross.
 
A few minutes later, Riley Sawchuk rocketed a wrist shot under the arm of Ross to give MRU a 2-0 lead. Sawchuk's lightning-quick release has propelled him to top of the scoring leaderboard in the Canada West conference with 11 goals.
 
The Cougars didn't slow down in the second. Nolan Yaremko fired a shot from just inside the blue line and it fooled a screened Ross.
 
After going down 3-0, the Huskies showed their frustration and were penalized for it. Evan Fiala was assessed a ten-minute misconduct for a check to the head. The penalty put the Cougars on a two-man advantage. MRU's top powerplay unit made quick work of Huskies when Yaremko dished a perfect pass to Sawchuk for a one-timer and another goal.
 
"Our chemistry has been building since the start of the season. That little intuition is clicking," said Nolan Yaremko. "Our connection through Tri-City is definitely helps and it's fun to play with these guys."
 
Roddy Ross was pulled in favour of backup netminder Jordan Kooy.
 
Saskatchewan continued to show their frustration and were assessed a couple more ten-minute misconducts. Yaremko was clipped by a stick and went searching for missing teeth but would stay in the game.
 
Yaremko added another one off a pass from his other former Tri-City American teammate, Connor Bouchard, to make it 5-0.
 
MRU forward, Jared Power iced the game off with a deflection off a Connor Blake point shot and the Cougars secured the 6-0 blowout victory.
 
The Cougars will travel to Vancouver next weekend for a couple of games against the UBC Thunderbirds. Catch the games live on Canada West TV.
 
Player of the game: Nolan Yaremko



WVB: TWU (3) at MRU (0)

The MRU women's volleyball team couldn't contain the TWU Spartans this weekend, losing the second game of the weekend 3-0. 

TWU went on multiple runs that MRU began to fight back from, but Trinity was unstoppable and took the game in straight sets against the Cougars, 25-16, 25-14, 25-27. 

Mount Royal struggled with the loss of Nyadholi Thokbuom on the outside, and with an early exit by Jessica Osczevski going down with an injury in the second set. The effort was picked up by Mya Morgan, Emma Boyd and Sydney Scratcherd but Trinity was too strong tonight. 

Boyd led the squad with seven kills tonight, closely followed by Madison Marshall with six. Setter Quinn Pelland a scouting point for TWU, and had nearly every part of her stat line slashed in half. 

It was clear that this wasn't the usual MRU performance through their 14 service errors in comparison to the Spartans 13 service aces.

The Cougars were unable to find their game today, struggling to receive on defence and get anything past TWU's blockers on offence. 

However, MRU was able to contain Ansah Odoom today, holding her to only nine kills on the night, unlike her 16 the night before. 

The winning factor for Trinity was their precision passing and throwing the Cougars off balance before throwing down a hit. 

"They're very talented," said MRU player of the game, Boyd. "We are a team who loves adversity and that was just another faceted effort that had to be made. It's all going to make us stronger for the game at large."

The Cougars now hit the road to take on the University of Fraser Valley next weekend. 

Watch the game live at 8 p.m. on Canada West TV. 

Go Cougars. 

Player of the game: Emma Boyd



Away Game:

WHKY: MRU (1) at SSK (0)