Wesmen stave off elimination, force Game 3 with Alberta on Saturday

EDMONTON, AB – The Winnipeg Wesmen staved off elimination in the most dramatic way possible, storming back from a 2-0 set deficit, as a 3-2 win will send their quarter-final series against Alberta to a winner-take-all Game 3 on Saturday.

The host Golden Bears earned a comfortable second set win and seemed destined for a series sweep. But the defending Canada West Champion Wesmen found another gear, ripping off three-straight set wins. Game 3 will go tomorrow night at 7:00 p.m. at Saville Community Sports Centre.

Jaxon Rose and Luke Lodewyks led the visitors with 16 kills each, with Alex Krykewich dishing 28 assists. As a team the Wesmen finished with 19 fewer kills than the Bears, but had 11 more blocks, 13 fewer service errors, and 12 fewer attack errors in the win.

"We are in a different position this year being the underdogs. We say it a lot, but we run into the fire, and that's what we did tonight. We are down 2-0, what is there to lose?" said Rose. "That was a team win. It wasn't anyone specific, but a full team win. Everyone came in, did their job, and we get another game tomorrow."

Fifth-year Matt Shand led the Golden Bears with a match-high 21 kills, as Dylan Martens added 15, and Owen Harris 12 out of the middle. Luke Weddell had a career-high 54 assists, adding eight digs and an ace.

The Bears earned a thrilling 25-23 opening set win to set the stage on Friday. Shand led the attack with five kills on 11 swings, with Martens adding four. Not much separated the two in the opener, with Alberta having six more kills, but the Wesmen countered with a cleaner set and fewer errors. Lodewyks was terrific, scoring five kills on just nine swings, coupled with four kills from Rose.

The Bears jumped out to an early 10-4 lead in the second and never looked back en route to a 25-19 set win. Alberta doubled the Wesmen kill total in the set scoring 15 to the Wesmen's seven. The also added five aces, finishing with a .357 attack efficiency. Shand nearly matched the Wesmen output with six kills himself, with Martens adding four.

The Wesmen kept their season alive with a third set win, thanks in large part to six kills from Rose, and 14 total from the Winnipeg side. As a team, the Wesmen were excellent on attack in the third, finding gaps in the Bears block defence, scoring those 14 kills on just 25 swings, committing only to errors. A .480 attack efficiency, two blocks and an ace from the visitors sent the match to a fourth.

The fourth was the best set of the series to that point, as the Wesmen stormed back from a late deficit to keep that match alive with a 26-24 win. The fourth saw six lead changes and 12 tied scores, before Alberta take a 23-20 lead, followed by a late surge from the visitors, with consecutive Alberta attack errors sending the match to a fifth.  The Wesmen only had nine kills as a team in the fourth but were boosted by five attack errors from the Bears and held an 8-1 lead in team blocks.

The fifth was all Wesmen, who by that point had fully seized momentum. Winnipeg jumped out to an 11-4 lead, with an Aidan Hruska ace ending the match.