Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics
LANGLEY, B.C. – It certainly isn't how they drew it up, but quietly after their 3-0 loss to the Trinity Western Spartans on Friday night, the MacEwan Griffins women's volleyball team found out they'd clinched a playoff spot.
When the Calgary Dinos lost 3-1 to Winnipeg, the Griffins locked up a playoff berth for the first time since 2019-20.
Of course, MacEwan wanted to take care of business themselves and punch their ticket with their own victory. But however it happened, they can certainly celebrate a moment that's been four years in the making.
"We did a lot of good work this year," said MacEwan head coach Chris Wandler. "I know the second half hasn't gone according to plan in terms of wins and losses, but we've played pretty high-level volleyball at times, just not as consistently high as we've wanted to. And that's the standard that we want.
"There's been a lot of learning and I don't want to say heartaches, but you have to go through this emptiness to figure out what you're about and how you want to play. Do you want to control it, or do you want other teams controlling what you do?"
That's the question they will need to answer if they're going to find post-season success.
The first step was clinching a spot which they did despite a straight-sets setback (25-21, 25-11, 25-22) to Trinity Western, which dropped them to 11-10 in the Canada West standings. Calgary, however, fell to 8-13 and, with both teams having three games left and the Griffins controlling the tiebreaker, it's official.
Now, it's about bottling some of the good moments they had against the nationally-ranked Spartans, like when they led the first set early and when they recovered from a disastrous second set to take it to TWU for periods of time in the third.
"That's totally up to the players," said Wandler. "There's no secret formula from a coach standpoint. It's not anything I'm doing, it's about them – that positive mentality, that aggressive not chasing-the-game type-of-thing – you take control. It's a fickle thing with this group.
"It's the first time in a few years we've been in this situation, so there's a lot on them, but they need to find it. And they need to find it fast. Going into another game tomorrow and next weekend, we're prepping for playoffs."
It's not out of the realm of possibility that the 17-4 Spartans could even be their first-round playoff opponent, although the standings have plenty of possibilities before the end of the campaign with 17-3 Manitoba and 16-4 Alberta sitting just above TWU, both back of 19-2 UBC and 18-3 UFV.
MacEwan is currently sixth, ahead of No. 7 UBC Okanagan (9-12) – whom they will meet next weekend.
Any way you slice it, they're going to face a good team in the opening round, so they need to rebound with a better overall effort against TWU in Saturday's rematch (5 p.m. MT, Canada West TV).
On Friday, MacEwan held an 11-7 lead in the opening set, but conceded an 8-2 run after that and couldn't catch up.
W��| SET 1
— MacEwan Griffins (@MacEwanGriffins) February 10, 2024
Mariah Bereziuk puts heat on the @TWUSpartans with her serve before hammering home a back-row kill to keep the Griffins alive late in the opening set. But the home side prevails 25-21.@CanadaWest #GriffNation pic.twitter.com/auPXRytZhX
"We actually had the lead in that first set and then we were one serve-receive away," said Wandler. "That's kind of been our story here for the last little while – we get caught in a rotation and just can't seem to get it out. It's a little bit of trying to find our game when we're playing good teams who are putting the pressure on us.
"So, trying to find that will, that physically loose, mentally tight type of mentality. I think that was the difference. Not winning that first set followed us into the second and we just spiralled. It didn't seem like anything was going right for us, so that didn't help."
The Griffins weren't in Set 2 at all but rebounded nicely in the third set to nearly force a fourth.
W��| FINAL@TWUSpartans 3@MacEwanU 0
— MacEwan Griffins (@MacEwanGriffins) February 10, 2024
(25-21, 25-11, 25-22)
Alyshia Bryks leads the Griffins with 12 kills, including this one that evened the score late in Set 3. Stay tuned for a recap.@CanadaWest #GriffNation pic.twitter.com/MuSaPPwfQg
"We played well in that third set again," said Wandler. "Alyshia Bryks got really hot in that third set and Payton (Shimoda) did a really good job finding her. We were close. Madi Hoppus came in and close out that third set and did a really good job serving. We had a few swings to take the lead and the ball couldn't find the floor. That's a team, too, that doesn't make too many mistakes, so you have to play pretty crisp."
Bryks led the Griffins with 12 kills, while Mariah Bereziuk added 10 kills and three aces. Shimoda had 29 assists and Sarah McGee also had three aces.
Maryn Boldon had 14 kills for the Spartans, while Kirsten Kampman had 13 and Kaylee Plouffe recorded 12.
