THIS WEEK IN COUGAR ATHLETICS

At Home – Friday
Women’s Volleyball vs. Thompson Rivers, 6:00 p.m. (CKHS)
Women’s Hockey vs. Alberta, 7:00 p.m. (The Co-operators Centre)
Men’s Volleyball vs. Thompson Rivers, 7:30 p.m. (CKHS)

At Home – Saturday
Women’s Hockey vs. Alberta, 3:00 p.m. (The Co-operators Centre)
Women’s Volleyball vs. Thompson Rivers, 5:00 p.m. (CKHS)
Men’s Volleyball vs. Thompson Rivers, 6:30 p.m. (CKHS)

On the Road – Friday (all times CST)
Track & Field at Golden Bear Meet, Day 1 (Edmonton, Alta.)
Men’s Hockey at Alberta, 8:00 p.m. (Edmonton, Alta.)
Women’s Basketball at UBC, 8:00 p.m. (Vancouver, B.C.)
Men’s Basketball at UBC, 10:00 p.m. (Vancouver, B.C.)

On the Road – Saturday (all times CST)
Wrestling at Huskie Open (Saskatoon, Sask.)
Track & Field at Golden Bear Meet, Day 2 (Edmonton, Alta.)
Men’s Hockey at Alberta, 7:00 p.m. (Edmonton, Alta.)
Women’s Basketball at UBC, 7:00 p.m. (Vancouver, B.C.)
Men’s Basketball at UBC, 9:00 p.m. (Vancouver, B.C.)

Women’s Hockey – Sporting a 3-1 record so far in 2016, the Cougars (9-7-3-1) look to continue their momentum as they host Alberta this weekend. The Pandas are tied for first place in the Canada West standings with an 11-7-0-2 record, just one point ahead of the Cougars. Toni Ross had a 30-save shutout in a 1-0 win over Lethbridge last Friday, and the Cougars triumphed 4-2 on Saturday in a game which featured a pair of second-period goals by Kylee Kupper. Game times are scheduled for 7:00 on Friday night and 3:00 on Saturday afternoon at The Co-operators Centre.

Women’s Volleyball – The Cougars play the first two of four consecutive home matches this weekend at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health & Sport as they’ll host Thompson Rivers on Friday and Saturday night. First serve is scheduled for 6:00 on Friday and 5:00 on Saturday. The Cougars are also at the CKHS next weekend with home matches against Alberta.

Men’s Volleyball – After their only away matches of January last Friday and Saturday against No. 6-ranked Winnipeg, the Cougars return home this weekend for two clashes against Thompson Rivers. Match time is set for 7:30 on Friday night and 6:30 on Saturday night.

Women’s Basketball (CIS Ranking: No. 3) – Up one more spot in this week’s CIS Top Ten poll despite being idle last weekend, the Cougars (9-1) are back in action this Friday and Saturday with a pair of road games against a UBC team that will enter the weekend with a 6-6 record. The U of R enters the weekend in third place in the Pioneer Division standings, just a half game back of second-place Alberta (10-1) and two games back of division-leading and top-ranked Saskatchewan (12-0).

Men’s Basketball – The Pioneer Division standings are nothing short of wild right now, with Calgary leading the way at 10-3, Victoria in sixth at 7-5, and four teams – including the Cougars (7-3) – packed in between. The Cougars travel to the West Coast this weekend for a pair of huge games at UBC, which will enter the series in second place in the division with a 9-3 record. Game times are set for 8 p.m. (PST) on Friday and 7 p.m. (PST) on Saturday.

Men’s Hockey – The Cougars split with the Lethbridge Pronghorns last weekend, falling 6-4 before bouncing back for a 6-3 win at home. Dillan McCombie and Zach McPhee each scored twice on Saturday as the Cougars improved to 5-15-0 on the season. Regina will head to Edmonton this weekend to meet the No. 6-ranked Alberta Golden Bears. Alberta has a 13-5-2 record and took two decisions over the Cougars in October.

Track & Field – The Cougars had their first away competition of the 2015-16 season last weekend at the Sled Dog Meet in Saskatoon. Joy Becker had first-place finishes for the women’s team in both the long jump (5.61m) and the 60-metre dash (7.82 s), while Ahmed Alkabary was first on the men’s side in the long jump (6.84m). The teams are back in action this weekend at the Golden Bear Meet in Edmonton.

Wrestling (Women’s CIS Ranking: No. 3 / Men’s CIS Ranking: No. 8) – The men’s team was idle last weekend but the women travelled to Guelph to compete in the Guelph Open. Kristine Longeau wrestled her way to a second-place finish in the 69-kilogram class and Kayla Brodner finished third at 63kg. Both teams will wrestle this weekend as the Cougars make their way to Saskatoon to compete in the Huskie Open.

(Courtesy Cougar Athletics)