CALGARY — The Winnipeg Wesmen are almost certainly going on the road for the post-season after losing their second straight loss on Saturday.

The Wesmen men's volleyball team dropped to sixth place in the Canada West conference with a 3-2 (25-22, 25-27, 23-25, 25-18, 16-14) defeat at the hands of the Mount Royal Cougars.

Winnipeg fell to 11-9 on the season while the Cougars took sole possession of first place at 14-6. 

It was Winnipeg's fourth loss in five five-set matches this season. 

The top four teams in the conference host first-round playoff series and the Wesmen now sit three matches back of 13-5 Brandon, UBC and Alberta, with 12-6 Saskatchewan also in the mix.

Saturday, the Wesmen didn't take advantage of their chance to close the match out in the fourth, giving up a five-point run at 12-12 that swung the set in MRU's favour. 

In the fifth, the teams played largely side-out volleyball until the final points when the Cougars got back-to-back kills from Christopher Byam and Max Haronga to break a 14-14 tie and seel the match. 

Isaiah Olfert led the Wesmen with 18 kills on .302 attacking, while Nigel Nielsen had 11 kills and a career-high 11 digs. Carson Brennan had a team-high 13 digs.

Byam led the Cougars with 20 kills and Jacob Van Geel added 11.