After a historic silver medal at the 2022 U SPORTS Women's Volleyball Championships, the Cougars team continues to rally forward and is hungry for more.
 
Mount Royal comes into the holiday break with an 8-4 record that slots them into fifth place in the Canada West standings. Their stellar win-loss record and 26-17 set record puts them narrowly behind the University of Winnipeg Wesmen. Head coach Shane Smith's group has been nearly unbeatable on the road, winning five out of six matches and 16 out of 21 sets.
 
On the attack, the Cougars are led by three veteran players in Haley Roe, Madison Marshall and Nyadholi Thokbuom. Roe currently leads the team with 129 kills followed closely by Marshall with 121. Thokbuom is third in Canada West hitting percentage with a 0.371. These three have been playing phenomenal volleyball to start the season. However, they aren't the only weapons that MRU possesses. Second year Emma Boyd has taken a huge step forward this year to form a great middle partnership with Thokbuom.
 
The Cougars dangerous and high-flying attack wouldn't be possible without a top-notch distributor. Senior setter Quinn Pelland brings MRU just that. Pelland is coming off an outstanding 2021-22 season where she earned a Canada West first team all-star nod and was given a U SPORTS second team All-Canadian honour. The Warham, Alta. local has continued her excellent setting in the first half of this season. Pelland's 393 assists put her in fourth place on the Canada West leader board.
 
Despite all the individual success that the Cougars are racking up, this team has always preached teamwork. Mount Royal is fortunate to have strong leaders like Quinn Pelland and Madison Marshall but also possess up-and-coming stars like Emma Boyd, Faye Murray and Mya Morgan. A mix of experience and youth have been critical to the team's success and give the Cougars a chance to achieve even more for the emerging program.
 
The Cougars finished off 2022 with back-to-back 3-1 wins against the University of Manitoba Bisons. The exciting weekend earned Madison Marshall Canada West Women's Volleyball Player of the Week. Marshall and the Cougars will look to carry through their momentum into 2023 and will travel east for a couple of important games on Jan. 6 and 7 against the team that sits just ahead of them: the Winnipeg Wesman.
 
Canada West boasts many of the top teams in the nation, making every game matter for the battle of top spot in the standings. The MRU Cougars women's volleyball team is among those top teams and maintain a superior opportunity to be crowned the best of them all.