EDMONTON - It took five thrilling sets, but the Alberta Pandas were able to extend their win streak to 13 with a 3-2 victory over the TRU WolfPack on Saturday night at Saville Centre. 

In what will likely go down as one of the games of the year, the two sides traded blows for 150 minutes, with Alberta sneaking out a 15-13 fifth set win after trailing 2-1 in the match. 

After starting the year 0-3, the Pandas have now put together their longest win streak since 2016/17, when they won 20-straight matches to start the season.

Justine Kolody was excellent for Alberta, dishing a match-high 44 assists to go along with seven digs and two aces. Laila Johnston led the Pandas attack with 14 kills, with Abby Guezen adding 13, and Mackenzie Pool 11. 

The Pandas were somehow able to withstand a staggering 36 combined kills from European imports Rida Erlalelitepe and Maria Dancheva, who were stellar in the loss. Brooklyn Olfert added 12 kills as well for a TRU team that finished with a 60-52 kill edge. 

Despite the valiant effort, the weekend sweep sees the #5 ranked WolfPack fall to 10-4. 

TRU shot themselves in the foot in the opening set, committing a staggering 10 attack errors and five service errors. They did out-kill the Pandas 14-8, but couldn't stay out of their own way. Johnston and Pool combined for seven of the Pandas eight kills, with Ronnie Dickson and Guezen adding three blocks in a 25-22 win.
 
The script flipped in the second, with the Pandas recording 12 combined attack, service, and receiving errors in a 25-21 loss. Erlalelitepe also took over the set, scoring six kills on just nine swings, to go along with three kills from each Olfert and Dancheva.
 
The WolfPack offence found another level in the third set, recording 14 kills on just 23 attempts, finishing with an astonishing .522 attack percentage. Erlalelitepe and Dancheva combined for eight of their 14 kills, with Faith Christensen adding three. Alberta had their most efficient set in the third, but were unable to get TRU out of rotation from the service line, coughing up five serving errors in the set.
 
The Pandas serving returned to form in the fourth, which saw them record four aces and 15 kills in a quick and efficient set. Alberta committed just one attack error in the fourth, with Johnson, Guezen, and Pool combining for 12 kills and no errors.

The fifth was the best set of the match, with TRU erasing a 11-7 deficit, tying the match at 11. Back-to-back service errors followed by a Pool kill ended the match for the Pandas.