Box Score

The University of Regina's women's volleyball team continued its strong start to the second half of the Canada West schedule with a three-set win over Alberta on Sunday afternoon at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health & Sport.

The win improves the U of R's record to 5-9 on the season as the Cougars pull into a tie with Mount Royal for eighth place in the Canada West standings, just one win back of Alberta for the seventh and final berth in the conference postseason.

Desiree Ates led all players with 15 kills and added eight digs, while Michelle Sweeting collected 10 kills, six blocks, and five digs. Leah Shevkenek fell just short of a double-double with 34 assists and nine digs.

Though it wasn't nearly as dramatic as Saturday's comeback win in the first set, the Cougars also needed a late run in the opening set to take an early lead on Sunday. Alberta led 23-18 and had five opportunities to win the set, but the Cougars shook off all of them and then took the set after back-to-back blocks gave them a 28-26 victory.

The two teams were never separated by more than two points in the second set, which featured a total of 18 tie scores and 13 lead changes as the Cougars and Pandas battled back and forth for the duration. The U of R faced a 23-22 deficit, but head coach Melanie Sanford called a timeout and the Cougars responded with three consecutive points capped by an Ates kill to take a 25-23 win and a commanding 2-0 lead in the match.

The third set started out much like the second with the two teams trading lead eight times, but the Cougars took control with a 9-1 run around the technical timeout and cruised to a match-clinching 25-20 victory.

Meg Casault had a team-high 11 kills for Alberta, which will return to action next weekend at home against Calgary. Libero Jessie Niles led all players with 17 kills for the Pandas, while Dione Lang added seven kills and tied for the match lead with five blocks.

The Cougars will now prepare for a pivotal pair of road matches against provincial rival Saskatchewan next weekend as the Huskies will enter the series in sixth place in the conference standings with a 7-7 record.