The University of Regina's women's volleyball team came out strong 24 hours after their five-set upset win over Trinity Western, but eventually lost in four sets to the No. 9-ranked Spartans on Saturday night at the Langley Events Centre.

Despite the loss, the Cougars remain in the same situation they entered Saturday in – mired in a three-way tie with Alberta and Saskatchewan for fifth place in the Canada West standings. With a three-win gap between the three tied teams and fourth-place UBC Okanagan (12-4), it's essentially seven teams battling for the final four Canada West postseason spots including Alberta, Saskatchewan, Regina all at 9-9, Manitoba and Mount Royal in the mix at 8-10, Brandon at 7-9, and Thompson Rivers at 7-11.

Saturday's game saw the Cougars take control following five consecutive Trinity Western points and a Regina timeout midway through the first set. It was all U of R from there, with the Cougars going on a 10-3 run following the technical timeout to roll to a 25-19 win.

But Trinity Western (13-5) took over from there. The Spartans dominated in a 25-12 second-set win, then followed that up with 25-20 and 25-18 wins in the third and fourth to clinch the match.

Hilary Howe drove the offence for Trinity Western, finishing with a match-high 21 kills and hitting .400 while also picking up seven digs. Katelyn Devaney added nine kills and also led all players at the net with 10 blocks for the home side.

Regina rookie Jessica Lerminiaux led the way with 14 kills, while Taylor Ungar piled up an impressive 23 digs for the Cougars to pull to within nine of Canada West digs leader Cassie Bujan of Manitoba.

The Cougars will now prepare for a long road trip to Edmonton and two road matches against MacEwan (2-14) next Friday and Saturday.