Comeback Pandas earn sweep against Cougars
| Score | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final |
| Cougars | 25 | 16 | 16 | 21 | 1 |
| Pandas | 15 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
AB kill leaders: Alena Omelchenko and Whitney Matheson with 13 each Box Score |
EDMONTON, AB (February 4, 2012) - The No.4 injury-ravaged Pandas fought back for the second-straight night, earning the weekend sweep with a four-set win (15-25, 25-16, 25-16, 25-21) against the Regina Cougars, Saturday evening at the Saville Community Sports Centre in Edmonton.
Freshman Alena Omelchenko and senior Whitney Matheson each had 13 kills on the night, the rookie also spinning four aces, two solo blocks, and four block assists. Setter Jaki Ellis netted 34 assists.
Regina setter Tiffany Herman notched 34 of her own and spun a game-high six aces while senior outside hitter Meagan Onstad tallied four and added nine kills, tying sophomore right side Chelsea Ziolkowski for the team kill lead.
The victory puts 13-5 Alberta in second place in the conference standings for the moment, but Winnipeg (14-6 and their season over) and Trinity Western (12-6) can still claim it for themselves, depending on the outcomes of the final weekend of the regular season. The Cougars, although dropping to 4-14, can also impact the playoffs next week when they face off against the 10-8 Calgary Dinos, who have yet to clinch a post-season berth.
Coming into the game with Erin Walsh, Jenice Warkentin, and Alyssa Jones sidelined, as well as sporting an ailing Krista Zubick, the Pandas opened with an altered starting lineup that showed some discomfort adapting to its new dynamic.
Seven attack errors combined with Onstad's five kills and two aces in the first set gave the visitors a 19-9 lead, Ziolkowski bookending the set with two of her three kills to give the Cougars a 1-0 lead.
Unfortunately, Regina swayed their own momentum in the second set by taking three unforced errors from the service line before the Pandas fought back with four blocks and made the Cougars unleash more errors before Zubick tied the game with a closing ace.
Alberta turned the offence up a notch in the third set, Edmonton native Matheson leading the charge with five kills and adding two block assists while Onstad began to struggle with several uncharacteristic attack errors.
They would continue to plague her in the final set, and at the worst possible time, as Regina looked to push the game to five sets by amassing a 12-4 lead in the fourth.
Yet those unforced errors, coupled with stellar Pandas blocking, cut the deficit in half before Omelchenko served up three aces in the midst of a 9-0 Pandas run to put Alberta on top 17-14.
Precise kills by Omelchenko and Matheson re-established the Alberta lead late while a frustrated Onstad, who finished with 11 attack errors and a -6.2% rating, put a cross-court attack into the net, leading to a 3-1 victory by the home team.
The Pandas totalled an impressive 14 blocks on the night, with third-year middle Amy Kowalchuk also adding two solo blocks and netting three block assists. In her final regular season home game, senior middle Caity Buckell added a solo block and six block assists.
Alberta heads to Brandon next weekend to close out the season while Regina returns home to host the Dinos.