WVB: Cougars eliminated from CW Playoffs after 1-3 loss to Bisons in Game 2 of Quarterfinals

After losing in three nail-bitingly close sets yesterday night, the MRU Cougars women’s volleyball team suited up for Game Two of their Quarter Final series against the University of Manitoba Bisons. With their season on the line, MRU put on one of their greatest performances of the year but were eliminated from the playoffs with a 1-3 match loss to Manitoba and 0-2 series loss (25-17, 14-25, 23-25, 21-25).

Grace Coulter and Mya Morgan teamed up on a block to open up the first set for the Cougars and set the tone early; MRU’s defence was phenomenal early, limiting Manitoba to just five per cent efficiency on their 11 kills and forcing nine errors in the 25-17 first set. 

The Cougars’ offence also stumped the Bisons, scoring their first five kills at a 41 per cent efficiency rate and making no errors in the process. Lexi Herrod’s sets were precise and made it easy for Emma Boyd, Bronwynn-Davies Neira and Coulter to inflict a series of unblockable kills upon the Bisons. 

Herrod fed a perfectly placed set to Morgan for a kill to open the second set in favour of MRU, but despite scoring the first two points of the set, the Cougars conceded six straight points and fell behind 2-6.  The Bisons’ killing efforts improved massively in the second set as they handed the Cougars a 14-25 loss, scoring 18 kills with just two errors for an efficiency rate of 55.2 per cent. 

However, the Cougars bounced back with a 11-3 run to open the third set, with Davies-Neira scoring MRU’s 11th ace of the set to cap off their scoring streak. Manitoba clawed back into the set methodically, enacting a 12-5 run to close the gap to just one point. Morgan and Davies-Neira collaborated on a huge block to put the Cougars up 17-15. 

The Bisons stayed close behind and forced the Cougars into long rallies with their resilient digging ability, and even though Paige Davidson and Fiona Brown put on a defensive clinic for MRU, they could not fend off Manitoba’s set-closing 8-6 run and conceded a 25-23 third-set loss.

Manitoba made two consecutive errors to open the fourth set, but registered a pair of points to keep the score level at 2-2. However, the Cougars conceded a 12-5 run as the Bisons’ killing improved significantly. Trailing 7-14, MRU scored three straight points to cut the deficit to four points, with Manitoba scoring one in response. Coulter and Davies-Neira scored throughout the middle of the set to keep the Cougars close, but Manitoba clung onto their lead and forced Rhonda Schmuland into a timeout with MRU down 12-18. 

Serving out of the timeout, the two teams competed in a rally that ended with a Manitoba attacking error. Scatcherd followed with a kill of her own and after another Bisons attacking error, the Cougars were just three points behind. The Bisons forced an MRU blocking error from to answer the Cougars’ 3-0 run, but Mount Royal scored in response to keep it a three-point set. Morgan continued the Cougars’ prolific offensive ways by floating a kill softly over the Bisons’ front line to cut the deficit to just one point and force a Manitoba timeout.

Coming out of the teams’ discussion, Boyd served an ace to tie the game, but followed that up with a service error that kept the Bisons up 20-19. Morgan’s kill and Herrod’s ace kept the Cougars tied with the Bisons, 21-21, but Manitoba remained composed as they scored two straight points to take a 23-21 lead. A huge Bison block put match point in Manitoba’s hands and a kill from Raya Surinx gave them a 25-21 fourth-set victory, eliminating MRU from the Canada West Playoffs with a 1-3 match loss.

Despite the loss, many Cougars put on incredible statistical performances, with Scatcherd and Herrod combining for eight service aces and Davidson digging out 13 Bison attacks. Player of the Game honours went to Mya Morgan, who displayed her two-way talents with nine kills and six blocks, both of which were team-highs.