EDMONTON - The No.2 ranked University of Alberta Pandas volleyball team got back to their winning ways on Friday night with a straight-sets victory over the University of Regina Cougars (25-14, 25-22, 25-18). The win moved Alberta to 15-4 on the season and dropped Regina to 6-13.

The Pandas were led offensively by third-year outside hitter Meg Casault who had 12 kills, while fourth-year libero Jessie Niles had a game-high 12 digs and second-year setter Mariah Walsh led Alberta in assists with 29.

The Cougars were led in kills by fifth-year middle Michelle Sweeting with nine and second-year setter Leah Shevkenek led Regina in assists with 22 and added a team-high 11 digs.

The first set began with some dominant net play for Alberta, getting blocks from middle Dione Lang. Setter Mariah Walsh and middle Jess Stroud then put the Pandas ahead 5-2 before Regina tied the set back up at 5-5.

Behind the serve of outside hitter Tori Glynn, the Cougars jumped ahead to a 9-7 lead, but Alberta tied it at 9-9 and then went on a big 13-0 run, controlling the set from there with four big kills from Lang and a terrific diving dig from libero Jessie Niles as well as blocks from Lang and Walsh, all behind the serve of outside hitter Josephine Doerfler.

A huge middle hit from Shauntelle Hogg gave the Pandas a 24-11 lead and they won the set on a tip from outside hitter Karly Janssen to win the first 25-14.

Alberta started the second set down two early at 2-4 but Doerfler had three kills and they rallied to tie the set at 6-6. The Cougars took the lead back, however, and moved ahead 10-7 behind the serve of Glynn.

They stayed ahead 15-9 as Taylor Ungar held serve for the Cougars and Regina kept Alberta scrambling on offense. The Pandas rebounded out of the technical timeout, though battling back to 14-17. Doerfler then put home a middle swing to make it 15-18 Regina.

Lang had an outside hit to make it 17-19 but Alberta put the serve long. Yet the Pandas continued to push their way back to 19-20 off a block from Meg Casault, who then sent in the next kill to tie the set at 20-20. Casault had a push to the open floor for a point and then another kill to give the Pandas a 23-22 lead. Alberta then took the set off a Regina hit out of bounds, giving them the 25-22 second-set win.

In the final set, Regina came out hungry to prolong the match, taking the early 3-1 lead but another terrific diving dig by Niles and a lengthy rally win allowed the Pandas to tie it at 3-3.

The two teams would continue to stay close with each other in the early part of the set, trading points until Alberta took a 14-12 lead off a Cougars' net call. Doerfler then put one down the middle to increase the lead to three.

Regina would tie it back up at 15-15 but a huge Doerfler block made it 16-15 Pandas. Lang then put down a block of her own to make it 19-15 Alberta and was in on another block, this time with Janssen, to make it 23-16 Pandas and Dione added a tip to make it match point. An outside kill from Janssen sealed the deal at 25-18 Alberta.

The Pandas and Cougars will complete their weekend series Saturday night at the SCSC at 5:00 p.m. MT.