Friday's clash between nationally ranked women's volleyball teams more than lived up to its billing, as the Camosun Chargers edged the UFV Cascades in a five-set thriller in Abbotsford.

The CCAA No. 8-ranked Cascades were in the driver's seat for much of the match, winning the first and third sets, but the No. 12 Chargers rallied to take the fourth and fifth to claim the victory (21-25, 25-21, 23-25, 25-22, 15-12).

UFV (8-5) and Camosun (9-6) renew hostilities on Saturday afternoon (1 p.m., Envision Financial Athletic Centre).

Afterward, Cascades head coach Mike Gilray noted that his team's incredible offensive performance – UFV hit 37 per cent as a team – was undone by subpar passing and serving. The UFV squad had its worst serving night of the season, gifting the Chargers 22 service errors.

"Props to Camosun – they made a lot of great defensive plays," Gilray said. "We had a lot of kills, but they were still taking away a bunch. They're a great team, a ranked team. It was a big offensive night, but we have to serve and pass better if we want to be competitive at the top of this league."

The Cascades, playing their first game since the Christmas break, got off to a strong start, building a 15-8 lead in the first set behind some strong attacking play from Amanda Matsui, Kim Bauder and Alysha Cooper. The Chargers battled back to get to within 21-20, but the Cascades fended them off and wrapped up the set on a Matsui kill.

The Chargers were sharper down the stretch in the second set – tied 19-19, the visitors scored six of the next eight points to square the match.

After the Cascades claimed a closely contested third set, the Chargers stretched things out in the fourth, building a 13-3 lead. Gilray went to his bench and got a spark – Chelsea Kidd had a huge service run and Keira Fisher was outstanding in the middle, but the visitors prevailed 25-22 to send it to a fifth.

UFV looked to be in good shape, leading 10-8 with Matsui on fire, but the Chargers reeled off the next five points and finished things off from there.

Matsui had a huge night, racking up 20 kills on 36 per cent hitting to go with 15 digs. Cooper was ultra-efficient, posting four kills on eight swings with no errors.

- with files from Jordie Arthur, Cascades communications assistant