WINNIPEG - It was an epic battle between two of the top teams in the Canada West Conference. The No. 4 ranked Brandon University Bobcats defeated the No. 7 ranked University of Winnipeg Wesmen 3-2 (25-18, 17-25, 27-25, 16-25, 15-6) Wednesday evening in Winnipeg.

Brandon with the win improves their regular season record to 15-4. Winnipeg with the loss falls to 12-7.

Sebastien Steigmeier led the Brandon attack with 13 kills and four blocks. Sam Tuivai finished with 10 kills and three service aces. Roy Ching had eight kills and a match high 13 digs. Setter David Stasica finished with 35 assists.

Winnipeg was led by Tom Douglas-Powell's match high 18 kills and four service aces. David Bommersbach added 11 kills. Logan Brennan led the Wesmen with 11 digs. Matt Dueck had a strong match at the net finishing with eight blocks. Setter Josh McKay had 33 assists.

Winnipeg held a brief lead early on in the opening set but Brandon did not relinquish the lead any time after that. The Wesmen did cut it close to 19-18 until kills by Frank Jones and Tuivai gave the Bobcats a 21-18 lead. Brandon closed out the set at 25-18, thanks to four consecutive Winnipeg attacking errors.

The Wesmen turned the tables in set number two leading 16-12 at the technical break. Winnipeg held off any challenge by the Bobcats and went on to win the second set 25-17.

In the third set things were going Winnipeg's way, leading 16-12 at the technical break but soon after Brandon chipped away at the Wesmen lead and tied the set at 20-20. The teams battled to 25-25 when a kill by Roy Ching followed by a Joel Makara service ace paced the Bobcats to a thrilling 27-25 win in set number three.

Brandon had momentum on their side in the fourth set leading 8-6 in the early stages. A kill on the next play by Douglas-Powell pulled the Wesmen to within one at 8-7 and with Douglas-Powell at the service line, Winnipeg scored six straight points to lead 12-8. A kill by David Bommersbach gave the Wesmen a 16-12 lead at the technical break and soon after paced by a pair of kills by Douglas-Powell, went on to win the fourth set 25-16 to force a fifth set.

The visiting Bobcats jumped out to a quick 10-3 lead in the fifth set and never looked back winning the deciding set by a 15-6 score.

Winnipeg will travel to Brandon on Friday to wrap up the home and home series. Match time is scheduled for 7:45 p.m.