For MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON — The MacEwan Griffins took their season-opening loss to heart.
They may not have got the W against the Trinity Western Spartans on Saturday, but they pushed and battled one of the top teams in the country in a five-set loss (25-17, 22-25, 19-25, 25-20, 9-15) at the David Atkinson Gymnasium.
Alyshia Bryks led the Griffins with 16 kills and five digs, while Arden Butler recorded 12 kills and 11 digs, while Kara Frith added 10 kills and three digs in the loss.
Maryn Boldon led the Spartans with 19 kills and four digs, while Kaylee Plouffe added 14 kills and seven digs in the victory.
"I'm really proud of us. I think we all walked away last night disappointed, because we all knew we had much more to give. It was really good to see what we're capable of and to push one of the best teams in the country at a consistent level," said Griffins setter Payton Shimoda, who had three kills and 46 assists in the loss.
"That was the big message from yesterday. There were too many ebbs and flows and to see strong play across five sets was really encouraging."
It was a gritty effort by MacEwan, who were forced to play most of the fourth set and fifth set without veteran outside hitter Danielle Jodoin, who left the game with a knee injury.
Up 7-3 in the fourth set, Jodoin tried to make a play on the ball at the net, and came down hard, injuring her knee.
Seeing a teammate go down is never easy, but the Griffins stood strong and continued to battle hard in the set. The Spartans were able to fight back and tie the set at 14-14, but Bryks and rookie Evangeline Zeyha had other ideas as they teamed up for kills in four of the next five points.
Andi Krawec, who came in to replace Jodoin got in on the action with two kills in the late stages of the fourth set to help MacEwan extend the lead and win the fourth set.
"We held that with us. We kept it in the back of our minds. It was so hard to see her go down, because of how hard she works and how loving of a person she is. That really pushed us," said Shimoda.
"We're still hoping it's not as bad as it seems."
W��| SET 1
— MacEwan Griffins (@MacEwanGriffins) October 19, 2024
Strong start for @GriffinsWVB as they take the opening set vs. @TWUSpartans 25-17.
Arden Butler (video) gets a key kill down the stretch with a tip off the block.#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/dM5W766qS3
The fifth set was definitely a learning moment for MacEwan. Last year, they didn't play a single match to five sets, so Trinity Western certainly had the edge in the final set.
"Our team doesn't have a lot of fifth-set experience. As well as we played last year, we didn't play any of our games to a fifth set. This is honestly one of the very first fifth set opportunities as a group," said Shimoda.
"We battled hard, but we just need to learn to come out of the gate really strong in the beginning of the fifth set is something our team needs to learn."
MacEwan came out on fire in the opening set and dominated from start to finish and showed they weren't going to play like they did in their season opener. Their passing was stronger, their serving was much more accurate and their defence stood strong often forcing the Spartans back on their heels.
"Every facet of our game was better today. It was good to see our pass-serve game on two days in a row, but the biggest thing was we were much more aggressive today overall," said Shimoda.
"All of our outsider hitters were much more aggressive and our middles did a good job making themselves more available, which opened up space for our outside hitters."
W��| SET 4@GriffinsWVB ties the match with a 25-20 win in Set 4!@TWUSpartans #GriffNation pic.twitter.com/olyxQKKW3U
— MacEwan Griffins (@MacEwanGriffins) October 19, 2024
Griffins head coach Chris Wandler loved his team's response after an up-and-down season opener. Facing a national championship calibre team in the opening weekend is never easy, but Wandler felt his team went blow-for-blow with the Spartans.
"This is what we're capable of doing. We realized opening day, everyone was excited and maybe their heads were a bit cloudy yesterday, but we had a video meeting today, and we talked about how close we were executing yesterday,' said Wandler.
"It's one of those matches that is a litmus test early. but the team you saw yesterday wasn't the team we envisioned to be. This (effort) was more of what we believe we are. We're a hard working group that wants to take their game to another level.
"We played with intent and some assertiveness. I was very proud of the effort. It takes a lot of mental fortitude to play at this high level. We rose so close to pulling off something that would've been nice, but we got everything we needed out of this match to carry us forward."
The Griffins had strong performances from a number of different sources, including their rookie middle Zeyah, who recorded seven kills and three digs, with only one attacking error.
"Arden, Alyshia and Kara were beasts. Evangeline was incredible and Andi (Krawec) did a hell of a job coming in to fill in for Dani (Jodoin), and really held her own," said Wandler.
"Yeah, I'm a very proud coach."
MacEwan will now travel to Kelowna next weekend to face UBC Okangan, who had a bye in the opening week of the regular season.