Box Score Friday, November 2, 2012 - Winnipeg, Man... The Mount Royal University Cougars held off a charge by the home team. The Cougars held on to defeat the Winnipeg Wesmen 3-2 (25-20, 25-23, 18-25, 19-25, 18-16) Friday evening at the Duckworth Centre.

The visiting Cougars jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the match only to see the Wesmen win sets three and four to force a fifth and deciding set.

The victory improves the Royals record to 2-1.Winnipeg sits with a record of 0-2.

Fourth year left side Colton deMan led the Cougars with 14 kills. Second year right side Jordan Parkin had 12. Second year libero Colton Smethurst led the Cougars with 11 digs. First year setter Marcus Ernewein had 34 assists and four solo blocks.

Four Wesmen players figured in double digits in the kills department, led by first year opposite Casey Schouten with 14. Tom Douglas- Powell had 13. Matthew Stubler and Brendan Black, in their fourth and third years respectively each had 10. Second year libero Riley Delavau led the team with 14 digs. Kenny McKenzie and Brendan Black each had three blocks. Setter Josh McKay had 45 assists.

The Cougars looked to have the match in their hands winning the first set 25-20 and a tough second set 25-23. The resilient Wesmen team found their groove in the third set winning 25-18 and followed that up with a 25-19 win in the fourth set to send the match to a fifth and deciding set.

Winnipeg looked to be in control late in the deciding set holding a 11-8 lead. The Cougars fought back reeling off three straight points to knot the score at 11-11. After the teams were tied at 12-12, the Wesmen scored two points in a row to have match point at 14-12. Colton deMan had back-to-back kills to tie the score at 14-14 and soon after the teams were deadlocked at 16-16. The Cougars prevailed scoring the final two points to make the score in an exciting fifth set 18-16 in their favor.

Both teams finished with five service aces each. The Cougars had the edge in blocking by a margin of 16-10 (10-8 in solo blocks).

The two teams will wrap up their weekend series Saturday evening. Match time is scheduled for 6:00 p.m