A HOT start for the Winnipeg Wesmen gave way to the more dominant team.

The Wesmen came out swinging early in the first match of the Canada West women’s volleyball quarterfinals, but ultimately couldn’t stand against a tough test for a full match, as they fell 3-1 (25-23; 14-25; 17-25; 11-25) to the Alberta Pandas in Edmonton on Thursday.

Winnipeg will try to keep its season alive when match 2 of the best-of-three series goes today (7 p.m. CT).

It will once again be a difficult task to take down the top-ranked program in the country.

MANITOBA Bisons teammates Raya Surinx and Eve Catojo headlined a list of female athletes in the province to be named Canada West conference volleyball all-stars on Wednesday.

Surinx, a fourth-year left side, and Catojo, a fifth-year middle, were recognized as first-team all-stars. Their teammate, setter Julia Martens, was named to the all-rookie team.

Joining Martens on the squad of first-year standouts was Winnipeg Wesmen outside hitter Anna Filippin-Buller, while fellow Wesmen, third-year outside hitter Brooke Duncalfe, was recognized as a second-team all-star.

On the men’s side, Bison middles Jonah Dueck and Jordy Heppner were named second-team conference all-stars.

It was always going to be a difficult task for the Manitoba Bisons to conquer a nationally ranked team on the road while short on rest.

Make no mistake: it was a scrappy effort from the veteran Bisons, but they ultimately ran out of gas in a season-ending 77-69 defeat against the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds in the Canada West men’s basketball quarterfinals in Vancouver on Friday.

Manitoba had defeated its inter-provincial rival, Brandon Bobcats, in a hard-fought play-in contest at the same venue on Thursday evening and needed to get up again for another high-stakes matchup against the No. 6-ranked team in the country.

A high-paced affair saw the Thunderbirds hold leads of 18-15, 39-28 and 59-49 at the end of each frame.