Jefferson Hagen / MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – Losing just once in two days of mini-tournament games during a holiday trip to San Diego sets the Griffins women's volleyball team up well for the second half of Canada West action.
The unique bonding experience over the week, which included a New Year's bonfire on the beach, might have been even more invaluable for a squad looking to recover from a league-worst 0-12 record this season.
"The theme of the trip was 'connect,' " explained head coach Ken Briggs, whose team returned to Canada on Jan. 3. "We had kitchenettes with room for five or six people, but they didn't just stay with that group they were rooming with. They really did a nice job of spending time with each individual.
"We trained on the beach on New Year's Day for two hours and they had to partner with different people. We had a good chance to interact with some of the other teams because they were in the vicinity."
Most of their time, though, was spent in the six-gym San Diego Volleyball Club facility, where they joined seven other post-secondary squads – Saskatchewan from U SPORTS, and perennial top Canadian Colleges Athletics Association teams Lakeland (defending national champs), Vancouver Island University, Humber, FX-Garneau, LG and Bois de Boulogne.
"The competition was really good," said Briggs. "Basically, for all of us it was a mini camp. It was similar to preseason because you're just getting back after exams in December.
"There were more teams than we expected. We really all worked together to give us the best competitive (environment)."
On Dec. 31, the Griffins triumphed over Canada West rival Saskatchewan 3-1 (14-25, 25-20, 25-23, 25-22) in their only best-of-five match of the week, while also beating VIU 2-0 (25-18, 26-24), Lakeland 2-0 (25-19, 25-11) and Saskatchewan 2-0 (25-16, 26-24) in best-of-three matches.
On Jan. 2, they lost 2-1 to Humber (20-25, 25-19, 16-14) before beating Montreal-based Bois de Boulogne 2-0 (25-17, 31-29).
"Really (solid results) because everybody was put into a competitive situation from the minute they walked into the gym. That was terrific," said Briggs. "We had to shift people around because everybody had to have some rest (due to all the action). Karly Edgar was swinging left side and she hadn't done that since high school. And she was fantastic.
"I'll tell you what, I've been on some of these trips before where I've seen it be a game-changer for an athlete. Something clicks and boom," he added. "Lauren Holmes was the best girl in the gym on most days. She was fantastic.
"Carly Weber was a rock star. She had a great, great tournament. Those three (including Edgar) really stood out, but they all (played solid). I could just go on and on."
The winning results offer hope for the second semester, which will kick off Jan. 12-13 at Saskatchewan (6-6). The Griffins have a bye this weekend.
"I sat with each player during the week to talk about this," said Briggs. "What does that record mean to us long-term, short-term? How does that affect our program and what do we need to do?"
MacEwan will also face Mount Royal (5-7), Regina (5-7), Brandon (7-5), Calgary (10-2) and Winnipeg (1-11) twice each before the regular season ends on Feb. 17 as they attempt to rally for an unlikely playoff spot. Currently, MRU, Manitoba, Thompson Rivers and Regina are tied for eighth and final post-season berth in Canada West, so the Griffins will need to come as close to running the table as they can in their final 12 games.
Based on the amount of praise they've been receiving – including a recent e-mail from Manitoba head coach Ken Bentley, who has been watching tape of their near upset of defending national champion UBC – the Griffins could be the best winless team in Canada West history.
"The girls brought that up that it's nice everything does that, but now we need to (do it)," said Briggs. "Everybody's saying the right things and the work ethic has never stopped. I think (success in San Diego) gives them some confidence."
