The University of Regina's women's volleyball team jumped out to a two-set lead on Friday night, but couldn't close out the match as Winnipeg came all the way back for a five-set victory at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health & Sport.

The Cougars held Winnipeg to a negative hitting percentage in both of the opening two sets, which they won by scores of 25-18 and 25-19. But led by Chelsea Jones and Aaliyah Masepela the Wesmen hit .435 as a team in the third and .387 in the fourth, winning both sets by 25-18 margins to force a fifth set.

The deciding set was a microcosm of the entire match. The Cougars jumped out to a three-point lead early, but Winnipeg went on a 4-1 run to erase the deficit and pulled ahead for good with three consecutive points that broke a 9-9 tie. The Wesmen eventually claimed the match with a 15-11 win, the final point coming with Jones and Hailey Buhler combining for a block.

Jones led Winnipeg (4-1) with 16 kills and led all players with a .361 hitting percentage while tying for the match lead with seven blocks, with Masepela collecting 13 kills and a hitting at a .304 clip. Ellina Domnidou had 46 assists and 10 digs for a double-double, while libero Sonia Rossy had a team-leading 15 digs.

The Cougars (0-3) were led by Tori Glynn, who led all players with 17 kills and 17 digs and hit a team-high .351 for the match. Chelsea Ziolkowski added 14 kills and 12 digs for the Cougars, while Leah Shevkenek finished with 44 assists. Molly Wade-Cummings had six kills and tied Jones for the match lead with seven blocks.

The two teams will meet again on Saturday night at the CKHS. First serve is scheduled for 5 p.m.

NOTES: Rookie middle Kyla Payette not only made her Canada West debut for the Cougars, but got the start in place of injured captain Michelle Sweeting ... Payette finished the match with three blocks.