QUICKLY
The University of Regina's women's volleyball team notched its first Canada West victory of the season with a marathon five-set road victory over Brandon on Saturday night.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• After falling in three sets on Friday night, the Cougars came out strong on Saturday with a Devyn Grimsrud kill clinching a 25-23 win in the opening set.
• Brandon took the second set 25-22, but the Cougars replied with a 25-18 win in a third set which was again clinched on a kill by Grimsrud. The Bobcats then took the fourth set in convincing fashion to force a fifth set. 
• The Cougars jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the deciding set, but Brandon called a timeout and the Bobcats responded with the next four points. Regina led 8-6 at the side switch before Brandon put the Cougars on the ropes after breaking a 12-12 tie with two straight points. But Regina survived not only those two match points, but another Brandon match point at 16-15, and the Cougars were finally able to lock up the victory when Grimsrud and Cassidi Klapak got up to block an attack by Brandon's Laura Ramsey.

NOTES

• Saturday's win marked the first career Canada West victory for head coach Prateek Yadav.
• Bailey Balaberda had a team-leading 16 kills for Regina while Reese Evjen had 15 and Grimsrud finished with 13. Balaberda and Evjen both notched double-doubles as Balaberda finished with 16 digs and Evjen had 12.
• Klapak also had a double-double, registering 49 assists and a team-high 19 digs. Jordy McEachern played libero and collected 18 digs.
• Avery Burgar led Brandon (1-15) with 17 kills.

NEXT UP
The Cougars are back on the road next weekend against provincial rival Saskatchewan. They'll take on the Huskies at 6:00 PM on both Friday and Saturday in Saskatoon.


 

Grimsrud with the HUGE block and the Cougars pull out the five-set win 😻😻 pic.twitter.com/3x1LJHpuZJ

— University of Regina Cougars 🏐 (@ReginaCougarWVB) January 14, 2024

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