Jefferson Hagen / MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – MacEwan Griffins volleyball fans might remember the epic back-and-forth battle the local squad had with the visiting Calgary Dinos on a weekend in January last season.
The teams played nine sets in some of the best action the David Atkinson Gym has witnessed since the Griffins joined Canada West.
On the first night, Lee Iverson set MacEwan's Canada West kills record with 27 of them.
On the second, Dinos veteran Curtis Stockton set Calgary's kills record with 40.
That's the history lesson.
The reality is when the teams square off for the first time since those matches, things couldn't be more different.
Iverson and Stockton are no longer playing Canada West volleyball and the cast on both sides is quite a bit different.
"They have a new right side who transferred from Red Deer (Regan Fathers), who's playing quite well and their left sides are two heavy volume guys who put up a lot of offence – (Alex) Bader and (Tim) Taylor," said Griffins head coach Brad Poplawski.
"They're in a better spot this year record-wise. They're coming in with a lot of confidence and they know they need these wins. If you look at the top right now, it's crazy to make playoffs. Obviously, this weekend's a pretty important one for them and they're playing quite well."
Indeed, Calgary (10-10) is in a battle for positioning, currently sitting sixth in the conference, trying to hold off Thompson Rivers (9-11) and Saskatchewan (9-13) and can clinch a playoff spot with one win over MacEwan this weekend. They will meet on Friday (12:30 p.m.) and Saturday (1:30 p.m., both games Canada West TV).
The Griffins (2-18) are aiming to finish the season strong as their fab freshmen (five of them seeing playing time this season) continue to get accustomed to the tremendous increase in level from high school.
"I think it's the same thing every day. We've got to try to get better," said Poplawski. "I don't think that changes where we are in our season or where our record is. I expect them to come to training and have a focus. We'll try to get better. That's individually. If we have enough guys individually getting better then hopefully our team improves.
"I think because we're closer to the end, it crystalizes in some guys' eyes who aren't coming back, (some reflection), but, to me, we're just focused on training today and trying to get better."
And they've had some moments of greatness this season as they continue to wind their way through the toughest conference of volleyball in the country.
Despite being .500, Calgary is ranked 10th in U SPORTS. It will be the second-straight nationally-ranked team the Griffins have faced after losing twice at No. 4 Brandon last weekend.
Still, Poplawski notes it's more about respecting the process of getting ready to face the Dinos, rather than getting lost in the overwhelming bigger picture of running a gauntlet of nationally-ranked teams.
"I thought we did some really good things on Saturday. Brandon's just that much better than us," he said of a 3-0 loss. "Volleyball's not a sport where you can play prevent defence or run the clock out. You have to beat them 75 times, minimum to win a match, so typically the cream rises.
"When coaches plan their season, this is when they're peaking. I imagine we're seeing the best of teams because they're trying to sharpen up for the playoffs," he added.
"I don't think we look back on playing other nationally-ranked teams. Our focus is on Calgary. This is what they do well, this is how we have to try to approach the weekend, this is how we have to negate some of what they do and hopefully we can execute."
