MacEwan Athletics
VANCOUVER – If there were points in the Canada West table for moral victories, the MacEwan Griffins women's volleyball team would be in a playoff position.
Unfortunately, pushing defending national champion UBC – as MacEwan did throughout Friday afternoon's match in the War Memorial Gym – didn't yield any physical result in the standings after the Thunderbirds escaped with a 3-1 win (25-21, 28-30, 25-13, 28-26).
"We played very, very well," said MacEwan head coach Ken Briggs. "We put pressure on them the whole time. And like the last three weekends, it was another coach coming up and telling us how wonderful we are and that we deserve a better fate.
"Another moral victory," he sighed.
The Griffins controlled the early part of the match, leading for much of the first set. But after holding a 21-20 advantage, they conceded five-straight points to lose as UBC's Gabrielle Attieh held court with a tough serve.
In the second set, the Griffins jumped out to a 9-3 lead before the Thunderbirds rallied to take a 16-14 advantage into the technical timeout. They traded points late in an epic battle before it was the Griffins proving clutch, winning it on Kate Rozendaal's kill.
The third set, though, was all Thunderbirds as they closed it quickly out off a MacEwan error.
In the fourth, the Griffins returned to top form and pushed UBC, rallying from 24-21 down with McKenna Stevenson holding court on the serve to force extra points. The Thunderbirds, however, never relinquished the lead, closing it out when Attieh won a net battle and the ball dropped untouched in the middle of the Griffins' court.
Cassidy Kinsella led the Griffins with 14 kills on a .361 hitting percentage, adding two aces, 11 digs and three blocks. Stevenson had 10 kills on .471 efficiency with three aces and four blocks.
"Cassidy and McKenna were outstanding – scored at will," said Briggs. "It was probably Cass's best game of the year and McKenna had 10 kills with only two errors.
"We tripled their block total," he added. "Just really, really good things."
In the end, subtle errors cost the Griffins in a match they did enough good things to win.
"It's going to find that one person who's going to make that little mistake," said Briggs. "Just little things that we talk about a million times. That's why it counts."
And so, the Griffins fall to 0-9 and remain in the Canada West cellar. UBC – the No. 2-ranked team in USPORTS – improves to 7-2. The teams will meet again on Saturday (6 p.m. MT, Canada West TV).
"I'm tired of moral victories," said Briggs. "It would be nice to give them a reward for how well they've played.
"We've already planned for tomorrow. That's all we can do."
