Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics
CALGARY – Serving notice that they'll be contenders in the Canada West ranks this season, the MacEwan Griffins completed a weekend sweep of the Calgary Dinos with a dominant straight-sets victory on Saturday night.
Not many gave them a chance; after a 4-20 record last season, they were voted to finish 12th out of 14 teams in the preseason Canada West coaches poll.
But now, they're one of just seven teams in the conference to go undefeated on opening weekend after a 25-21, 27-25, 25-21 victory on Saturday over the Dinos in their gym.
"Big players in big moments today. It was really good," said Griffins head coach Chris Wandler.
"They're pretty excited, right?
"The amount of work that they've put in over August and September has been tremendous. I'm just glad to see them come out with some success after all the hard work."
Mariah Bereziuk led the Griffins with nine kills and eight digs, while Alyshia Bryks (five kills, four aces, six digs and two blocks) and Payton Shimoda (25 assists, four aces, eight digs and two blocks) led a dynamite game from the service line that produced 10 total team aces.
Shimoda's ace, which went sideways off the hands of a Dinos defender, ended the match in the third set.
"We talked yesterday about the first contact and serving is one thing we want to get a hold of early in the year," said Wandler. "Our serving was pretty pinpoint today. We had a service game plan and we executed very well."
Captain Sarah McGee also had a strong game with six kills with a team-leading .400 hitting efficiency, adding six blocks.
In contrast to Friday's 3-1 victory over the Dinos, the Griffins had to persevere through a much grittier Dinos team this time. Their hitting percentage was just .140, but the bigger key was how they stared down adversity and didn't blink.
"I told the girls, you win in different ways," said Wandler. "Last night, we passed the ball really well and were pretty efficient. Tonight was a way different game. We had to play a little grittier. We had to squeak out points off a block. They weren't any clean points for us.
"We really had to stay mentally aware of what was going on and stay in the moment. It was just a little bit different game than it was Friday night."
The Griffins will return to Edmonton for their home opener on Oct. 27 vs. Saskatchewan, who are also 2-0 after sweeping Brandon.
