EDMONTON - For the second week in a row, and the sixth time this season, the University of Alberta and University of Calgary women's volleyball programs will do battle, with the Alberta Pandas now taking home-court advantage, which may just be the only difference in all that separates the two teams, heading into the weekend's important matches.

Last weekend, the two rivals needed 10 sets to close out their regular seasons against one another in Calgary, which also decided final playoff positions.  As a result of the split last weekend, Calgary winning 3-2 and Alberta winning 3-2 on Saturday, the Pandas clinched third in the conference, and home playoff dates, while the Dinos slid down to sixth in Canada West, and booked themselves a best-of-three series this weekend in Edmonton.

There is no love lost between the two Alberta-based teams, having battled each other in 27 overall matches over the past five seasons.  There is also not much separating them, with Calgary having won 14 of the previous 27 contests, including a 3-1 post-season record.

Alberta's lone playoff win over Calgary in the last five years, however, was at the 2007 CIS championship, where they defeated the Dinos 3-2 in the semi-final, en route to winning the women's volleyball national title.

Calgary is not a team that haunts Laurie Eisler's squad, though, as the Pandas own a 9-6 record over the Dinos in the last three seasons, including a 3-2 mark this year.

You'll likely need a very sharp blade to split the hairs that differentiate the two programs, who always bring out the best in each other.

When looking at the conference team stats, Alberta can be found in the top five of four categories (hitting percentage, opponent hitting percentage, aces, and digs) and is the number one team in aces, while Calgary is top five in five categories (hitting percentage, opponent hitting percentage, assists, kills, and blocks), but trail the Pandas in two of those (hitting percentage and opponent hitting percentage).

Individually, Calgary's Melanie Miazga is a top five in conference hitting percentage, but two Pandas, Tiffany Proudfoot and Krista Zubick, are top 10 in kills.  Dinos setter Sarah Lacny is fourth in assists, but even in Alberta's two-setter system, Jaki Ellis is ranked number 10.  The Pandas have three players, Krista Zubick (first), Ellis (second), and Proudfoot (ninth) in the top 10 in aces, but the Dinos counter with two, Ali Sandholm and Miazga, in top 10 blocking; both liberos are top 10 in digs, and two Pandas, Proudfoot and Zubick, find themselves among the conference best in total points, where no Dino is currently treading.

Add it all up and this weekend in the Main Gym works out to a best-of-three war of attrition between two teams with plenty of history and dislike, yet not much dividing them.

With Alberta's 3-2 win last weekend, the Pandas have now taken 11 of 20 sets against the Dinos this season, as well as 52% of the total points played.

Understandably though, the only differences and stats that matter after this series will be who won and who lost.  In the case of two supremely well-matched teams such as these, that factor will likely determined by the immeasurable values of character, and compete level, as well as will and determination.

Action gets underway in the Main Gym beginning at 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday night, with game three, if necessary, starting at 3 p.m. on Sunday.  It will be the final CIS women's volleyball ever played in the Main Gym, as the Alberta teams get set to play in the brand new GO Centre beginning in 2011-12.

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