slicer not putting items in alpha order but table does

I have data formatted as a table with multiple pivot tables summarizing it. I have two slicers that are connected to all of the pivot tables and they work perfectly except for one thing:

One of my slicers won't put things in alpha order correctly.

The data from the table sorts as expected in the original table, but the slicer has a few weird entries at the top that don't follow the alpha order I get in the source table itself.

I have checked that there are no leading spaces, that each of the cells is formatted as text, refreshed the pivot tables, but I still see the same odd ball entries at the top of my slicer.

The cells all contain data in the following pattern: ###_-_@@@@@@@@@ (3 digit number followed by space dash space then the title of a department in all caps)

I really am flummoxed by this...any ideas?

BTW - I just realized my pivot tables are also behaving in the same errant way as the slicer...sigh...

Attach a data sample, it will be easier for you to help

I ended up just not even bothering with the slicer. Thanks though