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The University of Regina's women's volleyball team defeated the Brandon Bobcats in three sets on Saturday night, giving the Cougars a sweep in the best-of-three conference quarterfinal series and a berth in the Canada West Final Four.

Down by two midway through the first set, Regina took control with a 12-4 run and went on to a 25-20 win. In the second, the Cougars took an early lead, held Brandon to a negative hitting percentage, and went up 2-0 in the match with a 25-16 win.

The No. 5-ranked Cougars took an 8-2 lead in the third set and looked to be on their way to an easy victory, but Brandon reeled off a 9-3 run to take a 22-20 lead. Meagan Onstad then stepped up in a big way, as the Cougars took five of the next seven points – all on kills by the third-year outside hitter. Back-to-back points off a Kaitlyn Hughes kill and a block by Meagan Smith and Beth Clark broke a 25-25 tie and clinched the win for Regina.

“We were just really prepared tonight and didn't take last night's win for granted,” Cougars head coach Melanie Sanford said. “They're a good team over there, and we kept enough pressure on them to prevent them from getting into a rhythm.”

Onstad was lights-out for the Cougars late in the match, ending up with nine kills in that third set and eight more in the second. The third-year outside hitter – who has now collected double-digit kills in each of the last six matches – led all players with a blistering .395 hitting percentage and ended up with 19 kills.

“Meagan (Onstad) is growing technically every single match,” Sanford said. “Every time she goes up, she finds a way to get the job done. And I just can't say enough about her backcourt defence.”

Playing in her final match at the CKHS, Clark had 13 kills on 28 attacks and tied for the match lead with five blocks. Tiffany Herman dished out 45 assists for the Cougars, while libero Rebecca Rink led all players with 19 digs. Hughes ended up with the lone double-double of the match, putting down 11 kills and adding ten digs.

Jaryn Ruether led No. 6-ranked Brandon with nine kills, while Sara Grona and Teagan Hunter both had nine digs.

The Cougars will now prepare for their first Canada West Final Four appearance since the format was introduced prior to the 2002-03 season. Regina will square off with the No. 1-ranked UBC Thunderbirds on Friday night at the University of Manitoba's Investors Group Athletic Centre, and will meet either Manitoba or Trinity Western on Saturday night.

Three teams at the Canada West Final Four will advance to the CIS Championship in Edmonton, Alta. The Cougars will be looking to advance to the national tournament for the third time in the program's history and for the first time since the 1999-00 season.