Box Score After their dominant 3-1 victory against the Brandon University Bobcats on Thursday afternoon, the MRU Cougars men’s volleyball team readied themselves for a Friday night rematch on Kenyon Court. Cody Hudson moved into the starting lineup after coming off the bench on Thursday, providing extra size on MRU’s front line. With intentions of qualifying for the 2025 Canada West Playoffs, the Cougars secured their second victory of the new year in three closely-fought sets (31-29, 25-23, 28-26).
Both teams opened the first set on the back foot, doling out their fair share of errors and splitting the first 12 points of the game in a 6-6 tie. Brandon soon caught their stride, though, enacting a 10-5 run to take a five-point lead and force Cougars head coach Shawn Sky to call his first timeout of the set with the score at 16-11. The Cougars soon responded with an 11-5 run of their own, seizing a 22-21 lead and forcing a Bobcats timeout.
The two sides traded kills on their way to a 24-24 tie, forcing them to play extra time. Neither team relented as the points piled up, but at the end of the long and hard-fought first set, the Cougars took a 31-29 victory. Paul Dionne put on an offensive clinic, securing five kills on nine attacking attempts, while anchoring MRU’s defense with the only solo block of the set.
Brandon opened the second set with vengeful energy, taking an early 8-4 lead and forcing an early timeout from Coach Sky. The Cougars woke up immediately as Hudson executed a powerful kill and Jovan Stepanovic served a perfectly placed ace, helping the team enact a 5-1 run and tie the game at 9. However, the Cougars could not shake the Bobcats off their tails as Brandon returned fire after every MRU point and kept the game close.
With the score tied at 15, the referee issued a red card to Brandon after their excessive complaints, handing a free point to the Cougars. As the two teams traded points at a steady rate, the Bobcats took a 21-19 lead before the Cougars led a 3-0 charge to take a one-point lead and force a Brandon timeout. Both sides traded points on their way to a 23-23 tie, but the Cougars secured a 25-23 second-set victory after two consecutive Brandon errors. Minimizing mistakes was crucial in MRU’s win as their 95.1 per cent serve reception rate helped them prevent the Bobcats from securing a single ace for the entire second set.
The two teams opened the third set in yet another deadlock, trading points and errors on their way to a 9-9 tie. A trio of Brandon errors handed the Cougars three points, though, giving them a 12-9 lead. However, the Bobcats’ hustled their way back into the set, taking a 16-15 lead and forcing Coach Sky to use his first timeout. Both teams exchanged points en route to a 17-17 tie before Brandon executed a 4-1 run to take a 21-18 lead and force yet another MRU timeout.
The Cougars responded with a 3-0 run of their own to tie the game at 21 and force Brandon to call their first timeout of the set. Even as the Bobcats found ways to score, Dionne scored back-to-back-to-back kills, seizing a 24-23 advantage and forcing Brandon to use their final timeout of the set. However, Hudson served up an error coming out of the timeout and allowed the Bobcats to tie the set at 24. Both teams traded points and down 25-26, Dionne scored yet another clutch kill to tie the game. Back to back points from Ryan John helped the Cougars end the set with a 28-26 victory and sweep the Brandon Bobcats 3-0.
Player of the Game honours went to Dionne, whose nine kills, three blocks and flawless execution in clutch moments played a quintessential role in MRU’s closely fought win on Kenyon Court.
The MRU men’s volleyball team will look to remain undefeated in 2025 as they take on the University of British Columbia Okanagan Heat on Friday, Jan. 24 at 7 p.m. in Kelowna, B.C. and live on Canada West TV.
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