Pandas fall in five to Wesmen

It was a celebration that looked like a team exorcising nine years worth of frustrations.
 
Reserve middle Christine Kolbuck served up an ace on match point and the Winnipeg Wesmen women’s volleyball team outlasted the University of Alberta Saturday night, snapping a nine-year, 14-match Canada West conference losing streak to the Pandas.
 
The Wesmen prevailed 3-2 (25-19, 25-20, 26-28, 21-25, 15-8) to beat the Pandas for the first time since Nov. 30, 2013 and, more importantly, move to 3-1 on the season. 
 
Kolbuck, who is used as a serve specialist, finished with two aces on the night. She came in with the Wesmen up 13-8 and, on match point, served a floater that Alberta libero Jenae Eisler couldn’t handle and the ball dropped to the floor as the Wesmen bench flooded out to celebrate.
 
Emma Parker finished with 21 kills and 21 digs, while Ashleigh Laube added 15 kills and 15 digs. Selva Planincic chipped in with 12 and 15 as the Wesmen combined for 86 digs. Taylor Cangemi added 16 digs and Portia Switzer 12. 
 
Haille Bujan registered eight kills on 17 swings and hit .412. She also had four block assists and six digs. 
 
The Wesmen were superb defensively throughout the night and had Alberta on the ropes early. But the Pandas, who were the No. 5-ranked team in the Canada West pre-season coaches poll, raised their defensive play in the third and fourth sets, extending rallies and allowing its offence to feed off it. 
 
The Pandas amassed 18 total blocks and 80 digs and looked to have flipped the game upside down when they scored five of the final six points of the fourth set to even the match at two sets apiece. 
 
But the Wesmen hit .474 in the final set, making just one error on 19 swings.
 
Lauryn Tremblay, who was such a problem for Winnipeg in a four-setter Friday, had 14 kills, but was held to .094 attacking. Similarly, Laila Johnston who was the team’s second-leading attacker on Friday, mustered just five kills on 42 swings and hit -.024.
 
MacKenzie Pool had 13 kills and 10 digs for the Pandas, who also got 11 kills from Allie Moore.