Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – There aren't many closer straight sets results than the one recorded at the David Atkinson Gym on Saturday.
Yes, MacEwan lost 3-0 to Winnipeg, but it could have gone either way as every set went to extra points.
Unfortunately, for the home side, they came up short in all of them, falling 29-27, 27-25, 29-27 as the Wesmen completed a sweep on the opening weekend of the Canada West men's volleyball season.
"They just made plays," said MacEwan head coach Brad Poplawski. "Our guys battled their asses off and we deserved a result.
"I'm gutted right now. They deserved better."
Jefferson Morrow led the Griffins with 17 kills on a .455 hitting percentage, while Alexei Walisser had 12 kills and seven digs.
"You want to say it's this, you want to say it's that, but at the end of the day, we just need to be better late in sets," said Walisser. "We need to find ways to make that dig, get that block, make that serve – just little things. There's not one thing we can point to. There's no sense pointing fingers.
"I just think as a collective, we just need to be that one or two per cent better late in sets. I think that's just the difference right now."
Winnipeg appeared to be on their way to taking Set 1 when Liam Kristjanson's service ace gave them a 24-22 lead. But the gritty Griffins ground it out to force extra points, going on a 3-0 run to take the hammer. However, on three chances to close it out from the serving line and the Wesmen were able to side out each time.
Eventually that cost the Griffins as Nigel Nielsen ripped one through the block in the middle to end the set in Winnipeg's favour.
Alexei Walisser rips one of his 11 kills in the match (Eduardo Perez photo).
Set 2 was almost a mirror image as Winnipeg appeared to be on its way when they went up 22-20 on a Thomas Bridle kill. But after a timeout, with Walisser and his big spin serve holding court at the line, the Griffins went on a 3-0 run and had a set point to close it out, but couldn't. Winnipeg rebounded and ended it on their second set point try off a service ace.
The third set came down to the wire neck and neck with MacEwan gaining a 24-23 lead when Nielsen hit his serve out. But on their first set point, Aidan McLennan stepped on the line while serving.
After a clever tip gave Winnipeg the hammer, a clutch kill from Walisser extended the match and the Griffins managed to side out three more times in a row before McLennan was blocked by Ben Traa to end the match.
"It's tough to feel good about that one when it's at your fingertips and you can't get over that hump," said Walisser. "It stings, especially considering you want to get off to a good start on the season and build momentum off your first weekend.
"To have two games that were very winnable, that we had opportunities to win, definitely stings, but it's just an opportunity to reset, get better and come into Monday practice ready to go take on a Sask team that's riding pretty high. So, we're going to have to find a way to elevate our game in order to match the standard of this league. That's all you can do. You can't sit here and sulk about it. We have to find a way to reset, find a way to be better, find a way to close out sets when we have that opportunity."
Nielsen led the Wesmen with 20 kills, while Kristjanson had nine kills and four aces.
"It was No. 9. He was the best player in the gym," said Poplawski of Nielsen. "We didn't stop him enough all weekend."
The Griffins will next head to Saskatchewan on Oct. 28-29.