Exactly 41 days after its last Canada West match, the University of Regina's women's volleyball team resumes conference play this weekend against Trinity Western on Friday and Saturday at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health & Sport.
 
The women will play first on both nights, with match time scheduled for 6 p.m. on Friday and 5 p.m. on Saturday. Both matches will be broadcast live at www.canadawest.tv.
 
It'll be an immediate test for the Cougars (4-10) as they get back into the Canada West schedule against the No. 5-ranked Spartans, who bring a 10-4 record into the weekend and sit in third place in the conference standings. The two teams met once during the non-conference schedule, with Trinity Western taking a 25-21, 27-25, 25-23 neutral-site victory over the Cougars in early October.
 
This weekend will mark the 10th and 11th consecutive matches against ranked opposition for the Cougars, who closed out the first half of their schedule against CIS Top Ten schools Calgary, UBC Okanagan, and Brandon before facing No.1 Alberta, No. 4 Toronto, and No. 6 Calgary in last weekend's New Year's Classic non-conference tournament in Edmonton.
 
The trio of Tori Glynn, Michelle Sweeting, and Chelsea Ziolkowski has accounted for about two-thirds of the team's attack attempts this season, and Glynn and Sweeting enter the weekend tied for the team lead with 146 kills. Ziolkowski isn't far behind with 136 kills, while Sweeting's .205 hitting percentage trails only Molly Wade-Cummings' .226 for the team high. Second-year setter Leah Shevkenek has 486 assists on the season and ranks sixth in the conference with an average of 8.84 per set, while Sweeting has averaged 1.26 blocks per set to rank fourth in Canada West in that category.
 
For Trinity Western, Sophie Carpentier is fourth in Canada West in kills (192) and kills per set (3.37) while Alicia Perrin is one of only two players in the conference with a hitting percentage in excess of .300. Perrin and Katelyn Devaney are ranked two-three in Canada West in blocks per set, while Vanessa Cornwall's average of 9.11 assists per set also ranks in the conference's top five.
 
This weekend also marks the first two of four consecutive home matches for the Cougars, who host Saskatchewan next Friday and Saturday. After that, the Cougars close out the Canada West schedule with two matches apiece at Alberta, at home against MacEwan, and at UBC.