Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics

KAMLOOPS, B.C. – Unable to get the ball to hit the floor on seven set point attempts in a marathon opening set on Friday, the MacEwan Griffins lost 34-32 to the Thompson Rivers University WolfPack.

They never got their confidence back after the massive TSN turning point, looking nothing like the team that rattled off six-straight victories to finish the first semester as they fell quickly in straight sets (34-32, 25-13, 25-18) to a team that entered the night 18 points behind them in the standings.

It was a shocking result for a Griffins team that has designs on securing the program's first playoff spot since 2019-20.

"I think we had opportunities to finish off that first set after we battled back from it," said head coach Chris Wandler. "I think it shook our confidence level a bit. 

"We just couldn't find our serve-pass game the entire match. We gave up almost 30 points on our serve-pass game. It's pretty tough."

With the result, MacEwan falls to 9-6, while TRU improves to 4-9. 

The Griffins are still in sixth place in Canada West and on track to make the top eight that qualify for the post-season, but the level of concern is rising after their third-straight loss.

The best thing they can do after a night where nothing was working is to flush it.

"I hope so," said Wandler. "Give Thompson Rivers credit. They played very well tonight and had us on our heels much of the evening. 

"We have to get on the aggressor side of things and start playing our style of volleyball. We just felt like we were back on our heels all night. We couldn't address anything and that's a tough place to play."

Mariah Bereziuk led the Griffins with 10 kills and seven digs, while Sarah McGee had five kills, five digs, four blocks and an ace.

Keria Gent led TRU with 13 kills, while Brooklyn Olfert chipped in 12.

The teams will meet again on Saturday (4 p.m. MT, Canada West TV).