REGINA – The University of Alberta Pandas completed a weekend sweep of the Regina Cougars on Saturday with a 25-21, 25-14, 25-15 win, improving to 2-0 to open the defence of their Canada West and U SPORTS titles.

The first set was the toughest of the weekend. Alberta led 3-1 early before Zoey Thompson served two aces to put the Cougars up 5-3, and the Pandas answered with five straight points, three of them Laila Johnston kills, to go ahead 8-5. Regina responded with a run of its own, scoring four in a row to take a 12-10 lead, and later pushed the margin to 17-14 before Alberta called timeout. The Pandas then outscored the Cougars 7-2 to take the lead for good. Mackenzie Pool served an ace to tie it at 18, and Johnston closed the set with a kill.

Alberta broke the second set open early. Tied 2-2, the Pandas reeled off 12 straight points to lead 14-2, with Ronnie Dickson serving three aces during the stretch and the Alberta block shutting down Regina's outside hitters. Regina called two timeouts during the run but could not stop it, finishing the set with a negative hitting percentage of -.053. The Pandas cruised from there.

The third set stayed close through the first half, with Regina taking a 6-5 lead on a Samantha Krausher kill. Alberta responded with a 7-0 run to go ahead 12-6, forcing a Regina timeout, and led by as many as nine points the rest of the way. Selima Guidara added an ace and Amani Igboba closed it out with a kill.

Alberta hit .359 for the match, including .474 in the second set, while Regina hit .108 and committed 21 attack errors. The Pandas also won at the net, outblocking the Cougars 11.0 to 6.0, with Allie Moore adding six block assists. Pool led the offence with 11 kills on .667 hitting, and Johnston added 10 kills on .400. Setter Sophia Magus handed out 27 assists, and libero Misha Hameed had eight digs.

The win moves Alberta to 2-0 on the season, while Regina falls to 0-2.

The Pandas will open their home schedule on Friday, Nov. 6, at 6 p.m., hosting the Trinity Western Spartans on home opener and banner-raising night. Tickets are available at bearssndpandas.ca/tickets.

Regina will travel to face the Thompson Rivers University WolfPack on Friday, Oct. 30.

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