MVB: Cougars swept in trio of close sets by Golden Bears

Box Score The MRU Cougars men’s volleyball team marched onto Kenyon Court for the final game of their regular season, matching up against the second-seeded University of Alberta Golden Bears. It was also the final match for Jovan Stepanovic and Paul Dionne, who played exceptionally well as the Cougars lost 0-3 (17-25, 22-25, 21-25).

Alberta opened the scoring in the first set with a pair of unanswered points, but Grant Hill soon set up Ryan John for a monstrous kill to keep the scoreline at 2-1. The Golden Bears slowly grew their lead to three points, taking a 7-4 lead before MRU enacted a 3-0 run to tie the game. However, Alberta jumped back in front by a three-point margin behind their perfectly set-up killing, forcing MRU to play catch-up once again. As both sides traded scores, Shawn Sky decided to use his first timeout of the set with the scoreline at 15-12. 

The Golden Bears came out of the timeout and immediately scored with a strong front-line block. That catalyzed a 3-0 run for Alberta as they served an ace and forced an MRU double-touch error, giving Sky cause to use his final timeout. The break did not phase the Golden Bears, who continued to expand their lead until they handed the Cougars a 17-25 first-set loss.

Paul Dionne, Jovan Stepanovic and John combined to score six of the Cougars’ seven first-set kills, while Matthew Clements, Hill and Stepanovic secured six of MRU’s seven digs.

The Cougars got off to a hot start in the second set, opening up an early 3-1 lead. However, Alberta struck back with a 3-0 run of their own to take a one-point lead. The Cougars refused to go away quietly, though, tying the game and eventually taking a 7-4 lead to force the Golden Bears to call their first timeout of the weekend. 

MRU scored two more points coming out of the timeout before receiving a response from Alberta, who soon clawed back into the set as they cut the deficit to just two points and forced Sky to call a timeout with the score at 16-14. Dionne scored his sixth kill of the game to cap off a 3-2 run for the Cougars, putting the score at 19-16 and forcing a second Alberta timeout.

Alberta enacted a 5-1 run coming out of their discussion as they took a 21-20 lead and forced Sky to use his second timeout of the set. MRU forced a blocking error to tie the game at 21 and the two teams traded points, keeping the score differential at one point or less. Aidan Roberts’ defense was crucial as he picked up a late block, but could not reject all of the Golden Bears’ attacks on his own as MRU conceded a 22-25 loss in the second set.

Dionne led MRU’s offense in the second set with four kills, supplemented by Roberts serving the Cougars’ only ace of the game. Clements spearheaded the team’s defense with his five digs and four Cougars picked up block assists, including Cody Hudson, Dionne, Stepanovic, and Roberts.

Alberta committed an attacking error to open the third set, but scored a point of their own on the next possession to tie the game at a point apiece. Hill continued to set up John and Dionne for monstrous kills, but the Golden Bears had a rebuttal for every point MRU scored. Eventually, the Golden Bears enacted a 6-2 run to take a 12-8 lead over the Cougars and force an MRU timeout. The Cougars did their best to cut into the deficit, bringing the score differential to just two points but could not overcome the Golden Bears as they lost the final set 21-25 and conceded their second consecutive 0-3 sweep.