Lerminiaux leads Cougars to four-set win over Brandon

Jessica Lerminiaux led the University of Regina’s women’s volleyball team to a four-set road victory over the Brandon Bobcats on Friday night at the Healthy Living Centre in Brandon.

The Cougars lost a close 25-23 first set, but responded with 25-18, 25-19, and 25-22 in the next three sets to claim the match.

The critical moment of Friday’s match came in the fourth set when it looked like Brandon was well on its way to a nice response after falling down 2-1 in the match. The Bobcats led 16-10 at the technical timeout, but scored 13 of the final 17 points to put away the road victory. An ace by Claire Sheppard gave the Cougars match point at 24-22, and Lerminiaux’s 24th kill of the night was the match-clinching point.

Lerminiaux’s total of 24 kills is the most ever by a Cougar in a four-set match since the rally point was instituted, breaking the old record of 23 shared by Tara Smart and Desiree Ates. Her 24 kills came with just six errors on 57 attacks, giving her a blistering .316 hitting percentage in the win.

Lerminiaux also added 10 digs for a double-double, while Bailey Balaberda and Katie House chipped in offensively with seven kills apiece. Cassadi Klapak finished with 40 assists and 10 digs, while Regina libero Sierra Parris-Kruger led all players with 21 digs.

Rayvn Wiebe led Brandon (8-7) with 14 kills and added 10 digs.

The Cougars (5-10) will go for the weekend road sweep on Saturday night at the HLC. First serve is scheduled for 5:00 PM.

NOTES: The Cougars already know where they’ll be heading for the first round of the Canada West playoffs as they’re locked into fifth place in the East Division … they’ll travel to Edmonton next weekend to compete in a four-team pod along with host Alberta, either UBC or UBC Okanagan, and either Brandon or Winnipeg.