The University of Regina's women's volleyball team suffered a four-set loss to Calgary on Friday night as both teams opened up the Canada West schedule at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health & Sport on the U of R campus.
After losing the first two sets by scores of 25-17 and 25-14, the Cougars turned things around in the third. They hit .320 as a team and rookie
Jessica Lerminiaux caught fire, putting down five kills on six attacks to help Regina push it to a fourth set with a 25-22 win.
And it looked as though the Cougars were on their way to a win in the fourth set as well, but a late run by Calgary prevented the match from going the distance. The Cougars led 16-10 at the technical timeout and were up 23-20 at one point late in the set, but with Laura McManes serving the Dinos scored five consecutive points to win the set and the match.
Kate Pexman led Calgary (1-0) with 15 kills and added 11 digs for a double-double while also leading the visitors with a .367 hitting percentage and four service aces. Brianna Solberg chipped in offensively with 13 kills and hit .296, while setter Leah Shevkenek had 38 assists against her former team and libero Kennedy Snape led all players with 18 digs.
Playing in the first Canada West match of her career, Lerminiaux got the start and tied Pexman for the match high with 15 kills.
Diana Lumbala added 13 kills for Regina (0-1) and led all players with a .385 hitting percentage, while setter
Satomi Togawa played her first match since being injured in October of 2015 and finished with 41 assists and 15 digs.
Calgary enjoyed a lopsided 13-2 edge in service aces and also hit .257 compared to the U of R's .165 on Friday. Besides Pexman's four aces, the Dinos also got three from Shevkenek and two apiece from McManes, Jaylynn Moffatt, and Beth Vinnell. Both of McManes' aces came during the critical 5-0 run for Calgary at the end of the fourth.
The two teams will finish off the weekend series on Saturday night. First serve is set for 7:00 PM following the conclusion of the men's match.
