Calgary, AB — The Mount Royal University men's volleyball team finished their second matchup against the University of Fraser Valley Cascades in a 3-1 win (25-22, 25-23, 19-25, 25-22) on Kenyon Court. 

With the win, the Cougars move to 2-0 on the season, while the Cascades fell to 0-4 to start the season.

The Cougars came into this rematch looking to secure their second win of the season as Jovan Stepanovic and Paul Dionne earned the first two points of the night via kill and service ace, respectively. Not long after, UFV's Jonas Van Huizen responded by returning a tough kill with no response from the Cougars. 

Shortly after, Grant Hill picked up the second ace for the Cougars to draw the first Cascades timeout, 17-14. Isaac Karstad powered his way into the conversation as he stuffed a free ball right back to the Cascades. The final Cascades timeout was called after John came flying in from the back row to send a fast ball past the hands of a Cascades player. John continued powering through the ball for another play that could not be recovered by the Cascades. Ryan Hampe's swing managed to beat a Cougars block to keep the Cascades alive and force the Cougars to call a timeout as the set approached 23-21 for the Cougars. After both teams exchanged service errors, the Cougars took the first set 25-22. 

Opening the second set, the Cougars raced out to a 6-1 lead to force a UFV timeout. After the timeout, Dionne quickly responded by marking the middle back row as the 7th point for the Cougars. The Cascades sparked some pushback as Hampe had back-to-back plays to score, keeping the Cascades to a 3-point deficit. Van Huizen continued to fight for the Cascades, and he stunned the Cougars defense in a powerful kill, keeping the game a 1-point lead for the Cougars 19-18. A missed serve from the Cascades would send the Cougars for match point while the Cascades also took their last timeout. Dionne would dodge an attack headed outbounds to claim the second set 25-23. 

After dropping the first two sets, Tyson Ardell started the third set with purpose as he claimed the first point in a quick fashion. Following right after, Van Huizen ended a fast paced rally by tucking a quick tip past the reach of Dionne. After an early Cougars timeout, the Cascades took a 7-2 lead. Compared to the previous sets, the Cougars struggled to find their footing in the first half of this set which led to the Cougars using their second timeout as they were down 8 points, but the Cougars would climb back 
to 10-14 and force another timeout by the Cascades. However, it would not be enough for the Cougars, as the Cascades would dominantly end the set, 25-19. 

That was as close as the Cascades would get, as the Cougars finished off the fourth set to take the win 25-22. 

"We can be a good team when we execute the details and commit to the game plan," said UFV head coach Nathan Bennett post game. "We showed that in the third set and then we fell away from it in the fourth. We are just having some trouble with consistency and staying competitive throughout the match. We have those spurts that we show and then we tend to play a different style of game than we should be."

Van Huizen led the way with 15 kills for the Cascades, while Hampe picked up nine, and Ardell finished with seven. 

Dionne had 14 kills for MRU, and Ryan John added 11.

The Cascades now return home to face the University of Winnipeg Wesmen on Friday and Saturday. Game times are set for 7:45pm, and 4:45pm in Abbotsford.