CALGARY, Alta. - The Mount Royal Cougars handed the University of Saskatchewan Huskies a four-set loss Friday night (Oct. 24), in the first match of the Dogs' road weekend series in Calgary.

The loss drops the Huskies to 0-3 while the Cougars improved to 3-0.

The first set saw a back-and-forth affair between the Huskies and Cougars, with the score rarely stretching beyond one point in either team's favour. Late in the frame, MRU's Kale Orr secured an ace but the Huskies would get it back to an even score at 26 apiece thanks to a Mathieu Methot kill. However, after the home team forced match-point, MRU's Cody Hutson secured the set one win 28-26. 

Through the opening frame the Huskies were led by Aaron Elser, the leading scorer from the team's season-opening weekend series against Alberta, who totaled six kills in the first.

After another tightly-contested start to the second set, the Huskies found themselves trailing 14-12 thanks to a Cougar scoring run and would call a timeout looking to stop the home team's momentum. Despite the momentum from the home team, the Huskies would fight their way back into the lead and take the second 25-22.

The third would see the Huskies take an early 8-4 lead following a kill from fourth-year leftside hitter Isaiah Mamer. However the home team would battle back and force a late 18-18 tie but the Dogs would retake the advantage 21-19. After the Cougars answered to take a 22-23 lead, Elser would answer with a block to send things back to a stalemate, but consecutive points from the Cougars would see Saskatchewan fall behind 2-1 in the match.

After playing to another late, 17-17 tie in the fourth, the two teams would continue to exchange blows before the Huskies were forced to call a timeout with MRU leading 22-20. However, the stopagge would not slow down the home team as they took the next three points to take the set 25-22 and the match 3-1.

Three Huskies would finish the match in double-digit figures with Isaiah Mamer producing a team-high 20 points on 18 kills while Aaron Elser recorded 18.5 points and Mathieu Methot 14.5. 

The Huskies and Cougars will return to Kenyon Court tomorrow to close out their weekend series. Tip off is set for 5:00 PM CST.