Story by Sheri Lamb
Alex Rose had 11 kills as the Winnipeg Wesmen defeated the Regina Cougars in straight sets (25-23, 25-19, 25-21) on Friday night at the Duckworth Centre in Winnipeg.
The Wesmen with the win improve to 5-10 while the Cougars fall to 1-14.
Wesmen coach Diane Scott said the team stuck to its game plan for the most part in the sweep.
"I thought how we came out and we blocked really well right out of the gate was really positive," said Scott. "Overall, I thought we passed pretty well, though we made it look like we didn't at times and we made far too many hitting errors in unforced situations but we served pretty well and blocked pretty well, which I thought was the key to our success."
Tory Glynn, a fifth-year outside hitter from Prince Albert, led the Cougars with 13 kills, six digs and 26 total attacks on an otherwise young Cougars team.
Wesmen fifth-year setter Jayme Menzies said in order to beat the Cougars in the second game on Saturday the Wesmen players will need to be more creative. Menzies set up 23 points and added three blocks in the victory.
"I think it was our confidence ,whether we were up or down, we just kind of maintained the trust in each other," said Menzies. "Given that we're ranked above Regina the pressure was on us to pull out the win while they had nothing to lose."
After a slow start in the first set by both teams, the Wesmen gained an early advantage when Chelsea Jones served up back-to-back aces allowing the hosts to build a four-point advantage. But the Cougars fought back with some good placement serving from first-year setter Erika Burns, erasing a 15-11 deficit to take a 20-15 lead, but the Wesmen fought back and took the set 25-23.
Mackenzie Jeffrey led the Wesmen in the set with two kills and four attacks in the opening set, while the Cougars fifth-year veteran Tori Glynn countered with six kills and 13 attacks of her own.
The momentum the Wesmen built up in taking the first set continued in the second set as Jeffrey served five straight points to help Winnipeg to a 19-10 lead. The Wesmen won the set 25-19. Alexandra Rose led the Wesmen in the second set five kills, giving her seven in the match and 14 attack points (nine in the set).
In the third set it was Tia Boroski who served up four points to give the Wesmen an early 9-5 lead, but the Cougars rebounded to tie the set 10-10 determined to fight to the end. The back and forth continued until the Wesmen were able to teak a 22-19 lead, hanging on for the 25-21 win.
"I will say Regina's attitudes are great and they don't get down and that's really critical for them because they've had a tough season but are a much better team than the scoreboard indicates," said Scott.
The Wesmen and Cougars return to the court Saturday, 2 p.m. for the second game of the weekend doubleheader at the Duckworth Centre.