Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – Ultimately, the MacEwan Griffins women's volleyball team wouldn't be denied in a thrilling third set rally from 17-10 down to win 25-23 and sweep the Thompson Rivers WolfPack 3-0 on Saturday night.
Renee Jodoin came off the bench to deliver a scintillating ace that gave the Griffins set point.
Maddison Hoppus dove flat out to retrieve a dig from the back corner on said set point.
And Sarah McGee ended Thompson Rivers' night with a brick wall left hand block that sent Erin Mutch's hard kill attempt back to where it came from.
An incredible finish. Incredible night. Incredible weekend.
With the result – 25-19, 25-19, 25-23 – the Griffins completed their first home weekend sweep of the Canada West season and first since beating Brandon twice in November.
"I told Payton (Shimoda) when I was sitting on the bench that my heart was in my stomach," said McGee. "Then Renee and Rachel (Perry) went in, and they killed it. Renee got an ace and three blocks or something. Bronwyn (Ettinger) came in, Madi (Hoppus) came in.
"It was really good, really fulfilling because winning in three was very important moving into next year. This was a fresh start for us."
W��| SWEEP��
— MacEwan Griffins (@MacEwanGriffins) February 5, 2023
How about a full weekend sweep for both @MacEwanU volleyball teams!
Some great D by Madison Hoppus, followed by a huge block by Sarah McGee nets the Griffins a 3-0 win over @GoTRUWolfPack in @CanadaWest action. Stay tuned for a recap.#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/EiyqbIb1Nw
It's too late for the Griffins to make the playoffs this season, but the wins improve their record to 4-16, while dropping TRU to 7-13, and gives them the momentum the young team will need to build a solid foundation for the future.
"It's important," said McGee. "I think it's setting the stage. UBCO's a big weekend next. I think playoffs is out of the question, but I think it's important going into next year.
"I really wanted to win at home and even thinking about my first year, we lost to Thompson Rivers – they put us out of playoffs – so it's a bit of redemption, especially for me, Megan (Foxcroft), Mariah (Bereziuk) and Dana (Dunbar). Beating them felt really good."
Indeed, the four of them were part of the Griffins' 2019-20 playoff squad which was upset at home in the opening round of the playoffs by the WolfPack, who finished below them in the standings.
On Saturday, McGee led the Griffins with 15.0 points, recording nine kills on a .471 hitting percentage and six blocks in a massive three-set performance in the middle. Danielle Jodoin had a nice night with 10 kills and nine digs, and Shimoda had 29 assists as she spread out the attack nicely.
W��| SET 1
— MacEwan Griffins (@MacEwanGriffins) February 5, 2023
Danielle Jodoin crushes one into the block and down as @MacEwanU takes Set 1 by a 25-19 score and lead 1-0 over @GoTRUWolfPack!@CanadaWest #GriffNation pic.twitter.com/bGBjUheZf7
TRU got 10 kills each from Mutch and Brooklyn Olfert with the latter adding 12 digs.
But the WolfPack's downfall was their lack of presence at the net as they were only credited with one block in the contest, while MacEwan had 12.
"It was awesome," said McGee of the Griffins' block. "Number 5 (Olfert) was a really good player last night. But we really bought into our game plan of getting two on her solid. Everybody was fulfilling their role and it made it really easy to stick with our game plan and shut it down, get a few big blocks."
Danielle Jodoin had the set-ending kills in both of the first two sets before her sister came in at the serving line for the match-ending sequence.
W��| SET 2
— MacEwan Griffins (@MacEwanGriffins) February 5, 2023
It's Danielle Jodoin again!
Her decisive kill ends Set 2 25-19 in favour of @MacEwanU and they lead 2-0 over @GoTRUWolfPack in @CanadaWest action.#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/SIx6bDwapb
MacEwan had no business being in a position to win Set 3, though, as they found themselves down 17-10 before interim head coach Dusty Freimark called a timeout.
Something clicked as MacEwan went on a 12-5 run to tie it 22-22 before proving to be the better team late.
"It was just about earning our points," said Freimark of the message. "At this point, we knew tips and roll shots weren't going to do it, so we had to support our hitters, we had to go after it, we had to trust our game plan defensively.
"We couldn't do it all, so we had to prioritize where we were going to take away and what we trusted our back court to defend against. Just trusting. We're not quitting, we don't quit."
And it was the bench that provided the key spark as Hoppus, Ettinger, Perry and Renee Jodoin all provided key plays down the stretch.
"Madison and Bron and Rachel and Renee, they come in in a situation that's pretty impossible and they just trusted," said Freimark. "They trusted their teammates, they trusted themselves. They knew that they had to do what they could do. They didn't have to do more.
"Just to play free like they all did was amazing."
Next up for the Griffins is a visit to UBC Okanagan on Feb. 10-11, while TRU travels to meet Trinity Western on the same nights.
