EDMONTON – The U SPORTS #1 ranked Alberta Pandas opened their post-season with an efficient 3-0 win over the Winnipeg Wesmen, Thursday night at Saville Community Sports Centre.
Alberta took a 1-0 lead over the Wesmen in their quarter-final series thanks to 45 kills and a remarkable .445 attack percentage, holding Winnipeg to just 25 kills.
Sophomore Panda
Abby Guezen led Alberta with a match-high 12 kills, with
Laila Johnston adding 10 and
Allie Moore scoring nine. First team Canada West All-Star
Justine Kolody beautifully orchestrated the Pandas attack with 35 assists, adding eight digs and three kills.
"The playoffs are a knife fight. So quick and efficient games are really helpful," said Moore, who added two aces and four total blocks to her nine kills. "We are expending some relentlessness from them tomorrow. They are known for their defence, and we can expect them to be quite a bit better tomorrow."
Jaya Dzikowicz and Brooke Duncalfe led Winnipeg with six kills each, who finished the match with a .154 attack percentage in a match that lasted just over 70 minutes. Winnipeg also committed 13 attack and eight service errors in the loss.
"We are playing against a very good team with weapons at every position. They played the first contact better than us tonight, and they passed better than we did," said Winnipeg head coach Phil Hudson. "When we are out of system against the size they have at the net, it's a challenge. We need to be better in every facet tomorrow."
Guezen led the Pandas in a dominant 25-13 opening set win thanks to eight kills on just 11 attempts for a remarkable .727 attack %. The Pandas scored 16 kills in the first to just six for Winnipeg, with
Allie Moore also adding three.
"My teammates helped me a lot, they were calling what was open on their defence," said Guezen. "Gameplan helps, and so does our coaches. Everyone was coming together to make that happen."
Alberta had 13 digs in the first, holding the Wesmen to just a .130 attack efficiency in the opening set.
The Pandas added another 16 kills in the second, taking the set 25-16. Moore led Alberta with five kills on just seven swings, including the set-winning point. Guezen added another four kills and two aces in the second.
Dzikowicz did everything she could to keep the Wesmen in the match, scoring four of the nine Winnipeg kills in the second. However, they couldn't slow down the Alberta attack, which finished the second with a .520 attack percentage.
Johnston led the Pandas with five kills in the third, who reached double-digit kills in each set. The Pandas also dug up 13 balls in the third, not allowing Winnipeg to get in rhythm. The Wesmen also committed nine attack errors in the third, negating any momentum they generated.
Game 2 of the best-of-three quarter-final series goes tomorrow night at 6:00 p.m. MT.
