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The University of Regina's women's volleyball team returns to the court this weekend to host provincial rival Saskatchewan on Friday and Saturday at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health & Sport.
 
The Cougars (0-4) are coming off a bye week following their road trip to Manitoba the first weekend of November. The U of R lost in three on Friday, then had a hard-fought four-set loss on Saturday which saw them fall just short of pushing the match to a deciding fifth set as the Bisons won 30-28 in the fourth.
 
The play of third-year libero Taylor Ungar has been a bright spot so far for the Cougars. The most experienced player on the team in terms of sets played in conference with the exception of currently injured middle Molly Wade-Cummings, Ungar piled up 38 digs in the two matches at Manitoba and now leads Canada West with an average of 4.69 digs per set.
 
Including Ungar at libero, the Cougars have gone with the same starters in all four matches so far. Returning players Jenna Krahn, Ashlee Sandiford, and Haley Wagar are the team's main options on the outside, with Sandiford leading the team in kills (34) and attacks (134). Rookie Emma Matheson and Briercrest College transfer Kathleen Bruce are the U of R's starting middles, while the Cougars have gone with rookie Kirstin Greve at setter.
 
The two teams met twice during the non-conference schedule, both in Saskatoon back in mid-October. The Huskies took both of those matches, winning in three sets on Oct. 14 and then outlasting the Cougars for a four-set win the following night. Saskatchewan has started Canada West play with a 2-2 record, losing twice to UBC but coming up with a pair of road wins over MacEwan to get up to .500 for the season.
 
Despite not playing in the second match at MacEwan, Emmalyn Copping is Saskatchewan's leader with 34 kills on the season. Mackenzie Pek started the first three games of the year at setter for the Huskies, though Jayden Weber got the start in the team's four-set win over MacEwan and had 40 assists, eight digs, and four blocks in the victory.
 
This will be the first of two consecutive home weekends for the Cougars. They'll be back at the CKHS next Friday and Saturday for a pair of matches against a powerhouse UBC Okanagan team which is currently ranked No. 2 in the nation. And after that, they'll close out the first half of the Canada West schedule against the No. 1-ranked team – the Cougars will travel to Alberta for matches against the Pandas on Dec. 2 and Dec. 3.