EDMONTON — The Winnipeg Wesmen lived to fight another day thanks to a reverse sweep on the road.

The Wesmen men's volleyball team battled back from a two-set deficit and handed the Alberta Golden Bears a 3-2 (23-25, 19-25, 25-21, 26-24, 15-8) defeat in Game 2 of the Canada West best-of-three quarter-final series Friday at the Saville Centre. 

The win forces a decisive Game 3 Saturday night (8 o'clock) on Canada West TV with a place in the conference semifinal on the line. 

After hitting .212 in the first two sets, the Wesmen came alive in the third with 14 kills on 25 swings and just two errors, The turning point came midway through the third set when the Wesmen, trailing 12-9, tore off five straight points and seven of the next eight to build a three-point lead. 

Winnipeg had to pull a rabbit out of its hat late in the fourth set. Alberta took a 19-15 lead with a 6-1 run and continued to lead 22-18 before the Wesmen put together their more crucial sequence of the season. Winnipeg scored four of the next five points and forced Alberta to take a timeout, and then won four of the next five after that to secure the set. 

In the fifth they kept it rolling. Tied 3-3, the Wesmen put together a six-point run and then grew their lead to 11-4. The Golden Bears would get no closer than 13-8, and an Aidan Hruska ace off the tape finished the comeback. 

Winnipeg hit .295 in the match, to Alberta's .257.

Jaxon Rose and Luke Lodewyks both had 16 kills to lead the Wesmen, with Lodewyks adding eight digs and seven blocks. Easton Dick also had seven blocks. 

Carson Brennan had a match-high 10 digs. 

Matt Shand led three Bears in double figures in kills with 21. Dylan Martens added 15 and Owen Harris 12.