THIS WEEK IN COUGAR ATHLETICS

Women’s Basketball – The Cougars (10-4) saw their 10-game winning streak come to an end last weekend, as they suffered 73-56 and 63-40 road losses to No. 5-ranked Saskatchewan to fall into fourth place in the Pioneer Division. And with first through fourth place separated by just 1½ games, it’ll be a pivotal series this weekend with division-leading Alberta (11-2) in town to face the Cougars. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:15 p.m. on both Friday and Saturday at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health & Sport.

Men’s Basketball – The Cougars (7-7) saw their Canada West record fall to .500 for the season with close 72-68 and 88-80 road losses to No. 9 Saskatchewan. They’re now tied with Winnipeg for the seventh and final Pioneer Division postseason berth, though the Wesmen have two games in hand on the U of R. The Cougars host sixth-place Alberta (7-6) this Friday and Saturday in a huge weekend series as both teams battle for playoff position. Both games tip off at 8 p.m. at the CKHS.

Women’s Hockey – The Cougars (4-6-8-2) got a point in a 2-1 overtime loss to Manitoba last Friday, but were beaten 6-1 by the second-place Bisons on Saturday. The U of R is still in possession of the sixth and final Canada West postseason spot, six points back of fifth-place Saskatchewan but 12 points up on seventh-place Mount Royal. The Cougars host UBC this Friday and Saturday at The Co-operators Centre with 7 p.m. scheduled start times on both nights.

Men’s Hockey – After a home split with Manitoba last weekend that saw the Cougars (7-15-2) win 5-3 on Friday before losing by the same score on Saturday, it’s off to the West Coast for the U of R this weekend. The Cougars are five points out of the final Canada West postseason spot with just four games to go, so they’ll not only have to take care of business against a solid fourth-place UBC team, but will also be hoping for Manitoba victories over Saskatchewan this weekend in Winnipeg. The Cougars and UBC play at 7 p.m. (PST) on both Friday and Saturday in Vancouver.

Women’s Volleyball – Chelsea Ziolkowski was named the Canada West Third Star of the Week on Tuesday after powering the Cougars (6-12) to two home wins over Saskatchewan last weekend at the CKHS. The Cougars needed all five sets in Friday’s win, but swept the Huskies 25-18, 25-18, 25-18 on Saturday for their sixth conference victory of the season. Ziolkowski finished with 31 kills and 23 digs for the Cougars, who are on the road this weekend for two matches at No. 2 Alberta.

Men’s Volleyball – The Cougars (1-17) were defeated twice at home by Saskatchewan last weekend. Andre Borgeaud had another ace on Saturday, and now needs just three more to surpass former Cougar setters Ryan DeCosse and Caleb Eschbach as the school’s all-time leader in the category. He’ll get a chance to do that this weekend as the Cougars travel to Edmonton for a pair of matches against the No. 2-ranked Alberta Golden Bears.

Wrestling (Women’s CIS Ranking: No. 7 / Men’s CIS Ranking: No. 9) – Kayla Brodner led the U of R’s women’s wrestling team with a third-place finish at 69 kg on Saturday at the Guelph Open hosted by the University of Guelph. The men’s team is back in action this weekend with a pair of duals against NAIA opposition. The Cougars will face Minot State on Thursday night before squaring off with Dickinson State on Friday.

(Courtesy Cougar Athletics)