It took over two hours and the maximum five sets, but the University of Regina's women's volleyball team eventually came away with a marathon comeback victory over Saskatchewan on Friday night at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health & Sport.
 
Chelsea Ziolkowski piled up a career-high 18 kills for the Cougars, who improve to 5-12 on the season with the victory. Ziolkowski also tied Leah Shevkenek and Lindsay Braul for the team high with 13 digs, with Shevkenek also dishing out 52 assists.
 
Jenelle Sokoloski led Saskatchewan (4-13) with 14 kills.
 
The Cougars opened the match with a 25-18 win in the first set and looked to be well in control of the second with a 21-16 lead, but Saskatchewan changed the course of the night with a massive run. With backup setter Mackenzie Pek at the baseline, the Huskies reeled off nine consecutive points – including back-to-back-to-back kills by Sokoloski – to win 25-21. Saskatchewan continued that momentum in the third, as the Huskies never trailed and hit .375 as a team while holding off the Cougars for a 25-23 win.
 
But the Cougars simply took over the rest of the way, going on an 8-2 run around the technical timeout in the fourth set on their way to a 25-17 win to force a deciding set. And after a Cougar timeout after conceding three straight in the fifth set, Shevkenek served the U of R to six consecutive points to turn what had been a slim 8-7 advantage into a commanding seven-point lead. A kill by Michelle Sweeting finished it off, giving the Cougars a 15-8 win in the final set and their fifth Canada West victory of the season.
 
Sweeting finished just behind Ziolkowski with 17 kills while hitting .400 and adding eight digs, while Molly Wade-Cummings continued her strong play of late by matching her career high of nine kills, hitting .421, and tying for the match lead with seven blocks. The Cougars hit .226 as a team in the victory, including .400 in the first set alone.
 
Besides Sokoloski's 14 kills, Saskatchewan also had seven from both Anne Hanbidge and Marguerite Ferguson. Ferguson hit .500 and had seven blocks for the Huskies, while Pek came off the bench and ended up with 27 assists as she played for most of the last three and a half sets. Libero Jennifer Hueser led all players with 14 digs, with Hanbidge adding 12 and Erin Guillemin chipping in with 11.
 
The two teams will finish off the weekend set on Saturday at the CKHS. First serve is scheduled for 5 p.m.
 
NOTES: The Cougars have now won 16 consecutive matches over Saskatchewan.