The University of Regina's women's volleyball team returns to conference play this weekend with home matches against Mount Royal on Friday and Saturday at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health & Sport.
 
First serve is set for 6 p.m. on Friday and 5 p.m. on Saturday.
 
Though they're still looking for their first conference win of the season, the Cougars ended 2016 on a high note. They played in the New Year's Classic in Edmonton last weekend and finished off the non-conference tournament with a three-set sweep over Saskatchewan, opening the match with two 25-23 wins and closing out the Huskies with a 25-17 win in the third.
 
Statistically, the Cougars are led by third-year libero Taylor Ungar. She's the only player in the conference averaging in excess of four digs per set, something that a University of Regina player hasn't done since Lisa Reynolds averaged 4.76 per set back during the 2000-01 season. Ungar has piled up 125 digs so far in the team's 10 Canada West matches.
 
One of the youngest teams in the conference, fifth-year veterans Jenna Krahn and Molly Wade-Cummings are the only two Cougar players beyond their third seasons of U Sports eligibility. Krahn started nine of the U of R's 10 Canada West matches in the first half of the schedule and is third on the team with 50 kills, while Wade-Cummings has missed much of the season to injury but played in each of the team's last three conference weekends and started both matches at Alberta.
 
Rookies Kirstin Greve and Emma Matheson, second-year players Haley Wagar and Diana Lumbala, and third-year players Kathleen Bruce, Ashlee Sandiford, and Leah Sywanyk have also all played in at least half of the team's sets this season.
 
Mount Royal comes into the weekend with a 4-6 record as the Cougars are in the thick of the Canada West playoff battle. They're one win behind Saskatchewan and Thompson Rivers, who currently occupy the last two postseason spots with 5-5 records.
 
One of the top serving teams in the conference, Mount Royal is second in Canada West with 95 aces this year. Alex Donaghy leads the way with 15 aces, while Amy Gordon, Julia Kryzan, and Chantel Park each have 13. Park's 13 aces have come in just 15 sets, giving the second-year outside hitter the conference lead with an average of 0.87 aces per set.
 
Donaghy is also Mount Royal's leader in kills (106) and attacks (291) this season, while libero Maddi Quinn leads Canada West with 146 digs.
 
Both matches will be webcast live at www.canadawest.tv.