Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics

EDMONTON – Daniel Hebert exudes calmness.

Which is an important trait to have when you're preparing to face the 120 km/h serves that the Trinity Western Spartans are capable of unleashing on Canada West men's volleyball opponents.

The Griffins will host the U SPORTS No. 2 Spartans on Friday (7:30 p.m.) and Saturday (4 p.m., both David Atkinson Gym, Canada West TV).

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Hebert, the third-year libero, who is the captain of MacEwan's passing game, noted the key to success with such velocity coming at you from the service line starts with your mindset.

"I think it's just staying in the moment, being focused and trusting what we worked on in practice," he said. "And our ability as players comes in a lot. 

"We've been very lucky to have a sports psychologist this year (Greg Gulash), so having him reinforce that we have the skills to do that (is important). Everything we've worked for is dedicated to these moments where they're bombing serves at us. Having him on the bench, it's such a relief."

The Griffins' passing was the best it's been all season (and perhaps in their entire Canada West history) when they gave Brandon all it could handle in a series last weekend.

"I think in my career, it was probably the best we've had," said head coach Brad Poplawski, who has been at the helm of the program since its ACAC days before joining Canada West in 2014. "I think we were 2.9 or 2.85."

That would be their rating scale of 1-4 based on how many options the pass opens up (left side, right side, middle and pipe).

"We talk about how we want to get 10 digs a set, we want to get 13 kills and pass a 2.7," said Poplawski. "For the first time this year, we met that goal both nights. I think it starts with Dan."

Hebert has 34 digs in 35 sets for the Griffins so far this season, but his contributions go far beyond the numbers.

"I really like the way he's playing right now," said Poplawski. "I think he's really grown into that position and just his confidence (has grown). The biggest thing for a libero is the better you are, the less you're going to touch the ball because teams just won't serve you. As a libero, 'how do you make the players around you better?' That's an important thing and I think he's starting to learn how to do that."

Daniel Hebert digs a ball in a match against Winnipeg earlier this season (Robert Antoniuk photo).

Hebert was quick to point out last weekend's solid passing effort was something the whole team can be proud of. As is often said of a libero, his role is to be the captain of the defence.

"It's definitely an unsung hero position, so it's kind of nice to get some recognition from our coach, for sure," said Hebert after Poplawski singled out his strong play against Brandon. "But it was a team effort. 

"We talked about each one of their serves and talked about what we wanted to do with each serve before stepping on the court. I think that helped a lot that all three of us – me, Jeff (Morrow) and Daylan (Andison) – knew what was going on and how we were playing them."

That preparation will again be key against the Spartans, who boast two of the top servers in U SPORTS – Mathias Elser, who leads the country in service aces per set (0.88), and Brodie Hofer, who is second in Canada with 28 aces in 10 matches.

"Even though they're going to be ripping absolute bombs at us, we're going to stay calm and control what we can control," said Hebert. "If they go and get an ace, that's just volleyball sometimes. They're going to make big boy plays and we're just going to have to be able to look at it and be 'that's fine, we're going to get the next ball' and then work our absolute hardest to make sure that next ball isn't also an ace and just go from there."

The Griffins plan to string some positive plays together and see what happens as they come in as an 0-10 underdog against the 9-1 Spartans.

"The more we play against them, I think the better it's going to make us," said Poplawski. "We want to extend the match as long as possible and give ourselves opportunities. It's going to start from the baseline for both teams and they're going to put a lot of stress on us, so obviously Dan's going to have to continue to take that next step and have a good weekend for us."

All indications are that his progression continues on an upwards trajectory since he came into the program in 2019 as a rookie out of small town St. Vincent, Alta., joining his friend Tyler Jodoin, who graduated last season.

"It doesn't seem like that long ago I walked in and was in awe of Max (Vriend) and all those fifth years," he said. "Now being someone that's considered a leader on the court is crazy. My attention to detail and overall calmness has helped me step into that role a little bit more. I'm not a very intimidating person, so I know a lot of guys are willing to talk to me about stuff. So, off the court, I'm willing to lead by example and they'll follow me because they know I have the best interests of the team."