WINNIPEG – A rough start was far from an indication of what was in store at the U of M on Friday night, as the Bobcats women's volleyball team fought the Bisons in a 3-2 (25-10, 27-25, 19-25, 22-25, 15-12) loss Friday night at Investors Group Athletic Centre.

The Bisons controlled the first set, but the Bobcats fired back up for the second and the rest of the game was a battle to the bitter end.

"I'm a little relieved," said Bison head coach Ken Bentley, with a laugh. "I thought after the fourth set, we still did a really good job in the fifth. That could've really broken our spirit."

The Bisons and Bobcats traded blows in the fifth set, which was full of intense rallies. Tori Studler's mid-court kill ended the set (15-12) and secured the 3-2 win in Manitoba's favour.

Bobcats head coach Lee Carter told his team to just restart after the first set, the second set's score is 0-0 and they still had every opportunity to win the game.

"We battled back a couple times from deficits, like in the [fifth] set we got into there and gave ourselves a bit of a chance," said Carter. "It's just unfortunate, you know, the Bisons don't make errors so you have to find a way to score."

With the win, Manitoba breaks a four-game losing streak and improves their record to 4-7. Brandon's record moves to 3-8.

Struggling to keep a consistent lead, the Bisons and Bobcats fought point-for-point the entire latter half of the fourth set. After being tied at 22, a block by Brandon and an out-of-bounds kill attempt by Manitoba propelled the game to a fifth set (25-22).

"…It was a crazy match. A lot of ups and downs, more than I want to see, but at this point every weekend is a war against every team and this was a great example of that," said Bentley.

For tomorrow, Carter says his team will watch some video, "and we're going to try to find a few holes in the defense and move forward from there."

The two teams meet again on Saturday afternoon at the Investors Group Athletic Centre with first serve set for 5 p.m.