Cougar Comeback Thwarted in Five-Set Loss to Brandon

The Brandon Bobcats outlasted the Regina Cougars for a five-set victory in a Canada West women’s volleyball match on Friday night at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health & Sport in Regina.

Brandon (2-1) put the win away with a Kaoane Loch kill in the fifth and deciding set on what was the Bobcats’ fourth attempt at match point.

It looked like Brandon was in full control after taking twin 25-16 wins in the first two sets, but the Cougars hit a blistering .567 in a third set which they won 26-24. Brandon had its first match point after going up 24-23, but Regina’s Caitlyn Spurr had kills on each of the next three points to get the Cougars on the board.

The Cougars also won the fourth set thanks in large part to Jessica Lerminiaux heating up towards the end. The fourth-year outside hitter had kills on each of the U of R’s final four points of the set, which the Cougars won 26-24 to force a deciding game.

The fifth set saw the Bobcats open up an 8-3 lead at the side switch, but Regina collected eight of the next 11 points to square it up at 11-11. But Brandon got the next three points with Danielle Dardis on serve to set up match point and while the Cougars got a kill from Annika Hufnagel and an ace by Claire Sheppard on the next two points, Loch’s kill finally sealed the road win for Brandon.

Rayvn Wiebe had a match-leading 22 kills and also hit .275 for Brandon while also registering 15 digs for a big double-double. Loch (13 kills), Taryn Hannah (12), and Dardis (10) also hit double digits offensively, while Jamie Bain dished out 62 assists and added nine digs for Brandon. Bobcats libero Caitlin Le had a team-high 17 digs.

Jessica Lerminiaux and Caitlyn Spurr had 21 kills for the Cougars, a career high for both outside hitters as the pair combined for 42 of the team’s 54 kills during the match. Spurr also added a career-high 19 digs, while Lerminiaux also had 12 digs as both players registered double-doubles.

Annika Hufnagel had 41 assists and nine digs for the Cougars, who fall to 0-3 with the loss.

The two teams will meet again on Saturday night at the CKHS. First serve is again set for 6:00 PM.