DAVID LARKINS, Wesmen Athletics

It was mere minutes before the Winnipeg Wesmen were going to take the floor that Zackery Thielmann found out he'd be called among the starters.

And he didn't wait long to make his impact.

Thielmann started in the middle and had a career-high six aces while notching five kills on 10 swings with only one error as the Wesmen men's volleyball team completed a weekend sweep of the MacEwan Griffins with a 3-1 (25-16, 25-17, 23-25, 25-13) Canada West conference victory Saturday night at the Duckworth Centre.

Thielmann made his first career start and was told just moments before the start of the match that he was getting the call. 

"I just trust my teammates and (head coach) Larry (McKay) puts me out there because he trusts me to be there," the third-year Miles Macdonnell graduate said. "All the guys I practise with every day they all trust me, so first time being (a starter) I really just relied on them and they really carried me and got me to play well.

Ethan Duncan had a team-high 15 kills for the Wesmen, who improved to 11-7 and pulled even with the idle Brandon Bobcats for fourth place in the conference. The Bobcats have two matches in hand as the two teams battle for the last hosting position for the post-season.

Daniel Thiessen added 14 kills for the Wesmen, who hit .363 for the match, including .500 in the first set and .419 in the second. 

Darian Picklyk had a team-high 12 digs.

The Griffins (2-16) were led by Max Vriend's match-high 19 kills. David Morgan had 13 digs. 

MacEwan hit .173 for the match.

—#REPTHEW—