(By University of Regina Sports Information)

REGINA, Sask. – The University of Regina's men's volleyball team pushed the match to four sets against a quality Alberta opponent, but the Golden Bears prevailed with a 25-15 win in the fourth to improve to 3-0 with a road win over the Cougars on Friday night at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health & Sport.

After Alberta (3-0) opened the match with a 25-20 win in the first, the Golden Bears took a 25-22 win in a well-played second set that saw both offences rolling. The Cougars actually hit for a better percentage in the set, hitting .480 as a team compared to Alberta's .469 but Taryq Sani and Alex McMullin combined for 15 kills to propel the Golden Bears to the win.

Controlled by rookie setter Jake Fleming, the Regina offence hit .455 in the third set and six Matthew Aubrey kills helped the Cougars to a 25-20 win. But they weren't able to keep that momentum going into the fourth, as Alberta brought in setter Luke Brisbane off the bench after going down early and it was all Golden Bears after that.

Sani was unstoppable for much of the match for Alberta, finishing with a match-high 24 kills while hitting .359 and also leading all players with 12 digs. McMullin finished with 13 kills and hit .296, while Jackson Kennedy fell just short of joining them in double figures with nine kills. Max Elgert started at setter for the Golden Bears and finished with 39 assists, while Brisbane compiled seven assists and a kill after entering the match early in the fourth.

Regina (0-5) was led by Aubrey's 17 kills. The second-year right side also had seven blocks and five digs during the match, while Conal McAinsh had five kills and a match-high nine blocks. Dalton Wolfe also had a strong match, finishing with nine kills, seven digs, and five blocks while hitting .316 for the Cougars. Fleming put up 36 assists and five digs.

The two teams will close out the weekend series on Saturday. They'll lead off the night with a scheduled first serve of 5:00 PM at the CKHS.