Blazers Dig In For Five Set Comeback Win Over Assiniboine
CMU kept their perfect home court record in tact on Friday night, coming from behind to edge the Assiniboine Cougars 3-2. The visitors jumped ahead 1-0 after the first set winning 25-23 and came within a point of increasing their lead to 2-0, leading 24-23 in the second set only to see the hosts battle back for a 28-26 win. Sadie McTavish would crush one of her 14 kills in the match for the set-winner.
The home team's momentum was short lived as the Cougars pounced on CMU in the third set, taking a lead that they wouldn't relinquish by a convincing score of 25-15.
Changes came to the Blazers' rotation in the form of Vanessa Friesen and Victoria MacNeil in the fourth as serving head coach Christie Nairn dipped into her bench to spark her team. Nairn, a first-year assistant coach, is filling in during head coach Jayme Menzies absence while the rookie head coach is in Saskatchewan where she is completing her certification in the Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women in Sport.
CMU would go on to take the fourth set 25-16 as third-year setter Reneé Desroches activated her offense to perfection. Jana Klassen scored 7 of her game-high 19 kills in the fourth while Friesen and MacNeil would also factor into the scoring. Hitting from right-side, the Junior Bison's product, Friesen, recorded a key kill and an important dig while MacNeil assisted with a kill and solo block.
A timeout in the fifth, trailing 0-4 allowed CMU to regroup and climb back into the set taking a 8-5 lead into the side-change after an 8-1 run of scoring. From there it was all Blazers, starting with a service ace from MacNeil and ending with yet another kill from Klassen. Desroches impressed with 33 assists over five sets as her team moved to 3-2 on the seasonl; their third win on home court.
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