The University of Regina's women's volleyball team won in three straight sets on Frday night over the Winnipeg Wesmen at the Duckworth Centre.
The Cougars (2-9) snap a long losing skid with the well-deserved victory. They won their opening match of the Canada West schedule over UBC Okanagan, but had dropped nine straight heading into Friday's contest.
The turning point of the night might have come midway through the first set after Cougars head coach
Melanie Sanford called a timeout after a Wesmen run saw Winnipeg go up 19-13. But it was all Regina from there, as the Cougars took 11 of the next 12 points and then converted on their second attempt at set point to take an early 1-0 lead in the match.
The second set saw the Cougars score four straight points to help take a 16-10 lead into the technical timeout before cruising to a 25-18 win. In the third set, the Cougars hit two into the net with match point but finally got a kill up the middle from
Emma Matheson to put away a 25-23 win and the match.
Diana Lumbala led the Cougars with kills and hit .235 on the night, while
Britt Davis added 11 kills and
Brittany Rousseaux had eight. Davis and Rousseaux both added 10 digs, while
Sierra Parris-Kruger had a match-high 20.
Elizabeth Tooth finished with 28 assists as she ran an offence that hit .211 in the win, while
Kaylyn Brown led all players at the net with eight blocks.
Emma Parker and Kalena Schulz both had 10 kills for Winnipeg, which falls to 4-7 with the loss.
The two teams will close out the weekend series on Saturday night (7:00) at the Duckworth Centre.
