CALGARY – Nyadholi Thokbuom finished with 19 kills to lead the Mount Royal University women's volleyball team to a 3-1 win over the University of Calgary Dinos Friday night in front of a frenzied crowd in the first game of this weekend's playoff round robin hosted by MRU from Kenyon Court.

The Dinos were even with the Cougars through two sets, but Mount Royal's top talent shone through down the stretch in pulling out the win, 25-23, 23-25, 25-18, 25-15.

"We came out really strong in the first two sets and played to our game plan early on," Calgary head coach Christine Biggs said. "I think the MRU crowd did a great job of making this a challenging place to play in – it was hard to hear all night. That was the first experience like that for a lot of us, but I think that's a positive for us heading into tomorrow's match – not only knowing what the environment can be like in here, but even more importantly looking ahead to Nationals and next weekend of playoff volleyball and what the intensity is like."

Kenzie Vaandering led the way for the Dinos with a playoff double-double of 12 kills and 11 digs to go with three blocks. Regan Ingram also notched a double-double of 10 kills and 10 digs. 

Stella Rains orchestrated the offense nicely, dishing out 33 assists in the round-of-six opener. 

First-year libero Michela Alongi led the Dinos defence with 15 digs on the night, while Deserae Unger chipped in nicely with a game-high four blocks.

Canada West First Team All-Stars Madison Marshall and Quinn Pelland carried the Cougars down the stretch, with Marshall finishing with 16 kills and 10 digs, while Pelland guided the MRU offence with 47 assists.

Despite playing in front of a raucous opposing crowd, the young Dinos squad opened the match nicely. After falling behind 10-7 and 14-10, Biggs' squad responded nicely, staying within one the whole way down the stretch. A block by Unger and Vaandering made it 24-23 late, but the Cougars were able to find the floor on the next rally to claim the opening series.

Calgary answered right back and an early ace from Unger gave the visitors a 7-3 lead to force a quick timeout. After Mount Royal rallied and claimed their first lead, the Dinos stay composed and once again answered right back, jumping ahead 20-19 after an ace from Rains. A late kill by Ingram put the Dinos ahead for good as they evened things up at one set each.

Despite battling in the final two frames, the Cougars were able to do just enough down the stretch of sets three and four to pull ahead late to claim the win.

Calgary is right back at it Saturday with a 6 p.m. contest against UBC once again from Kenyon Court.