The Manitoba Bisons hung around long enough to make it interesting, but the Winnipeg Wesmen delivered a decisive blow.

The Wesmen men's volleyball team fought off a reverse-sweep attempt from their most hated rivals and hung on for a 3-2 (25-23, 25-15, 25-27, 18-25, 15-12) Canada West conference victory that kept the Wesmen in the hunt for the Duckworth Challenge. 

Winnipeg improved to 13-2 on the season and temporarily moved above Alberta for first place in the conference. 

But what once looked easy proved to be uneasy as the match went along: The Wesmen had a relatively firm grasp on Set 1 — they were up 23-19 before the Bisons made a move — and completely dominated Set 2, painting a picture of a quick night in downtown that would end with the hosts celebrating. 

But the Bisons asserted themselves in the third, serving up four aces and holding the Wesmen to .100 attacking one set after Winnipeg put up a .692 with no errors. 

Winnipeg was held to .100 again in the fourth set while Manitoba went at .458 to force a fifth. 

In the decisive set, the Wesmen got a key early run. Tied 3-3, the Wesmen got consecutive kills from Paxton Koop, Aidan Hruska and Isaiah Olfert to jump up by three. The Wesmen would stretch that lead to 9-4 before the Bisons called timeout. 

Trailing 14-10, Manitoba thought it might get back into things with back-to-back points, but Luke Lodewyks put the match away with a kill. 

Olfert was named Duckworth MVP for the Wesmen with 20 kills and seven digs. Hruska, the sophomore left side who had taken 48 total swings all season, subbed in and played the final two sets, notching seven kills on 11 swings with no errors, all career-highs. Carson Brennan had a team-high 14 digs.

Spencer Grahame led Manitoba with 13 kills and Josh Jehle had 15 digs. 

Alex Witt was named Manitoba's Duckworth MVP.