EDMONTON – The No.7 University of Alberta Pandas defeated the University of Manitoba Bisons 3-1 (25-11, 25-13, 19-25, 25-16) Friday night at the Saville Community Sports Centre.

Pandas' fourth-year outside hitter Kory White extended her conference lead in kills to 309, with 16 kills on the night, while third-year setter Elyse Hart had 33 assists in the win.

On the other side of the court, Manitoba's third-year outside hitter Laura Hill tallied 15 kills and fellow third-year Kelsey Jordan, the team's setter, added 30 assists.

The Pandas started the match firing, going on an 8-2 run early and extending their lead to as many as 14 points to end the set. Alberta was able to capitalize on errors made by the Bisons, including a four-touch violation and a misplay on Elyse Hart's service, resulting in an ace to take the first set, 25-11.

With no sign of slowing down, the Pandas once again jumped out to a big lead to take the second set. Similar to their first-set win, Alberta was able to capitalize on the Bisons' errors to jump to a 2-0 set lead, when the Manitoba blockers could not handle Lauryn Tremblay's kill to end the set.

With some life, the Bisons would not say goodnight without a fight, leading for a majority of the third set, causing Alberta to take a late timeout. However, unable to dig themselves out of a hole, the Pandas gave up the set, when the Bisons' freshman middle, Light Uchechukwu, sent a big cross-court kill into the Pandas' side, securing the set for the Bisons.

In the fourth set, the Pandas once again found their momentum, jumping out to a 10-5 lead to start the set and forcing the Bison to take a timeout to reset themselves. However, Alberta continued to roll as fourth-year middle Vanessa Jarman laid the final kill down mid-court, attaining the Pandas a 3-1 win.

Both teams will face off again tomorrow night at 5 p.m. MT in game two of the weekend series at Saville Community Sports Centre.