With one blow of the whistle the University of Alberta Pandas volleyball team saw their playoff hosting dreams vanish as they dropped a tense five set match (25-20, 17-25, 17-25, 25-23 and 15-13) to the University of Manitoba Bisons Sunday afternoon in the U of A's Main Gym.

The loss, coupled with No. 4 Alberta's straight sets victory on Saturday, was not enough to keep the defending CIS champions in fourth spot in the Canada West as the Trinity Western Spartans slipped past them and into a home playoff date.  TWU swept #2 UBC this weekend in Langley and despite the split with #1 Manitoba, Laurie Eisler and the Pandas will travel to BC for a best of three series next weekend against the Spartans.

Much like Saturday afternoon Alberta started hard and fast, taking the lead and running with it as Manitoba played catch-up.

The first set 25-20 loss to the Pandas was not enough to deter the Bisons who had earlier clinched first place in the Conference by virtue of UBC's two losses.  Manitoba came roaring back for sets two and three, playing through extended rallies with the Pandas and showing great defence.  The two teams went toe-to-toe for almost every point, even sharing glaring errors when the set was in reach.

The momentum swings kept everyone on their feet and the coaches with their hands on their heads.  Both teams could have run away with the match early on but both suffered through service errors, net fouls and communication issues.

Down two sets to one, Alberta looked down and out as they trailed Manitoba 20-14 in the fourth.  But strong net play by middles Alexa Berton and Samantha Wojtkiw, as well as setter Daryll Roper, inched the defending champions closer until the took the lead at 23-22 and closed it out at 25-23.

The momentum earned got them the first three points in the fifth set but faded as Manitoba took the next five and led 8-6 at the technical time-out.

Manitoba and Alberta traded points and at one time the lead but the Bisons seemed to carry the edge in play, albeit slight.  With the Pandas down 14-13 the teams went into a great rally that ended when Alberta was called for an attacking error, putting an anti-climatic stop to an otherwise great match.

With the loss, Alberta will now travel to TWU next weekend, while the Bisons will enjoy a bye week, courtesy of finishing first in the Canada West, where they have been since the start of the season.