The Trinity Western Spartans had to battle back from two deficits down, but escaped with a 3-2 victory over the Regina Cougars.
The Spartans men's volleyball team, ranked second in the country, was in Regina for a pair of matches, winning 3-0 (25-21,25-11,25-16) on Friday and 3-2 (23-25,23-25,25-19,25-22,15-6) to improve to 3-1.
"I thought we made some great strides forward as far as growing up and maturing," said coach Ben Josephson.
"If you want to be a great team and a playoff team, you have to win the matches when you're not at your best or when your opponent is extra hot.
"I think both of those elements were in play tonight."
Nick Del Bianco led the way for the Spartans with 25 kills and 14 digs while Brad Kufske had 15 kills and 11 digs. Scott Plocktis dished out 47 assists and 11 digs.
The Spartans used an impressive 13-2 block advantage and held Regina to a .059 hitting percentage in Friday's straight-sets win.
Branden Schmidt collected a match-high four service aces.
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The Trinity Western Spartans women's team also took care of business in Regina, winning both of their matches to improve to 3-1.
The country's top-ranked team won 3-0 (25-17,25-20,25-21) and 3-1 (20-25,25-18,25-14,25-18).
“I was really pleased with our performance tonight,” said Spartans coach Ryan Hofer.
“We improved upon a few things that we wanted to address from last night and that allowed us to run our systems better. We blocked well, we attacked well and we served well.
Amy Ott led all players with 13 kills while Alicia Perrin had 11 kills and hit for a team-leading .429 percentage.
In Friday's victory, Amber Brown led the way with 11 kills on 21 attempts while Royal Richardson added 11 digs. Perrin had a match-high five blocks and setter Kelci French had 30 assists.
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Both Spartans teams are back at the Langley Events Centre this weekend with a pair of matches against the Thompson Rivers WolfPack.
The women play at 6 p.m. on Friday and 5 p.m. on Saturday, with the men's games beginning at 8 p.m. and 7 p.m. respectively.