Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – Training camp/preseason has been going since late August for the Griffins men's volleyball team.
In truth, their preparation has been building for long before that as MacEwan heads into its first official non-conference action this weekend when they'll host UFV on Friday (7 p.m.) and Saturday (4 p.m., both David Atkinson Gym).
They are light years ahead of last year, able to train and prepare properly without pandemic restrictions slowing them down.
"This year, because the guys had a full off-season where they could get access to proper gyms and training, our level coming in was quite a bit higher," said head coach Brad Poplawski. "We've been able to do a lot more and we're way ahead of where we were last year."
The makeup of their team also contributes to that; the Griffins return six starters and 13 total players. In contrast, Poplawski had 11 new players in 2021.
"Having that many returners, there's a lot more familiarity with each other, with the coaching staff, so it makes that onboarding process for the five new guys a little bit easier," said Poplawski of a small recruiting class this season.
Besides high-level training and installing their systems, the Griffins have scrimmaged against NAIT and an alumni team. But there will be nothing like facing an actual U SPORTS opponent this weekend.
"We've had opportunities to compete, so now we get a chance to see another Canada West team," said Poplawski of UFV, who joined the CW ranks last season. "I think everyone's looking forward to it."
It will be an opportunity to face an opponent who will challenge what they've been learning.
"We've worked on our system, we've worked on our style of play," said Poplawski. "Will it hold up when there's a U SPORTS opponent on the other side? I'm sure they'll do things that you might struggle with. How do we respond to that? What's our battle level like? What's our compete level? What sort of things are we good at?
"We've tried to get a team identity. Is that able to come through? I think we're going to learn a lot about ourselves this weekend. It's a good opportunity to play a lot of volleyball against a good opponent and learn a lot about ourselves."
The games will be MacEwan's final tune-up before the Canada West regular season begins vs. Winnipeg on Oct. 21 (7:30 p.m.) and Oct. 22 (4 p.m., both David Atkinson Gym, Canada West TV).
