Jefferson Hagen, MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – It was last Saturday night when the MacEwan Griffins women's volleyball team's group chat really started buzzing with excitement.
It became apparent at that moment that they would host a Canada West playoff weekend for the first time in program history.
"We were all super excited," said setter Kylie Schubert. "All of the energy levels were way up high (when we found out) and we're just really excited to go in and battle.
"It's huge for us. We have a really big fan base who've been out to support our home games so far. There's always more comfort and excitement when you're at home. We've got lots of people supporting us who will come watch and we definitely feed off that energy, too. It's really exciting."
The Griffins (17-7) are set to host the Thompson Rivers University WolfPack (16-8) in a best-of-three quarter-final series between the No. 4 and 5 seeds in the conference on Thursday (6 p.m.), Friday (6 p.m.) and Saturday, if necessary (5 p.m., all David Atkinson Gym, Canada West TV presented by Co-op).
As much as the match is uncharted waters for playoff neophyte MacEwan, it's equally old hat, too. MacEwan and TRU met each other less than two weeks ago in Edmonton with the WolfPack rallying back from 2-0 down to win 3-2 on Feb. 7 and the Griffins hitting back with a 3-0 win on Feb. 8.
"That's the thing. We both are very familiar with each other because we played recently," said Griffins head coach Ken Briggs. "We've seen the lineup variations and things like that, so now it's who's going to perform?"
Both teams boast some of the top players in Canada West. For the visitors, Kendra Finch had the fifth-most kills in the conference (284) and Kseniya Kocyigit was tied for fifth in blocks (91). The WolfPack boast a great deal of depth with the ability to work multiple players seamlessly into their lineup.
For MacEwan, Rachel Jorvina led Canada West in digs/set (4.45), Haley Gilfillan was second in blocks (102) and Schubert finished fourth in assists/set (9.31). Overall, the Griffins very much rely on strong serving and a balanced attack, with multiple contributors putting the ball on the floor.
"Who's going to step up this week? There's the added pressure that this is the playoffs, this is exciting," noted Briggs. "The biggest thing is to embrace the nerves. That's adrenaline. … When you get into those games, it's who can handle that, who can use that. We deal with it on a daily basis. Volleyball is very much a momentum sport. They've been doing it their whole lives. It's can they handle it?
"We've certainly shown that we can at times. Other teams have shown they can. That's why these teams are in the playoffs. It's just very exciting volleyball."
Indeed, the Griffins have shown to be a much more resilient team this season than in the past. Late points in close sets have more often gone their way as the veteran group – featuring four fifth-year players – regularly relies on experience and some sound coaching advice.
"It's definitely been a different mindset going into games," said Schubert of a team that has improved from a 12-12 record a year ago that left them just outside of the playoff picture. "Our coaches have harped on us to problem solve, rather than go into a downward spiral, so we really try to work on that.
"If something's not working, what can we do to change or adapt and compete better. I think that's something that's different this year."
They've also shown the ability to adopt adjustments, such as two weeks ago when they quickly reset after losing a heartbreaker on the first night to TRU to beat them in straight sets less than 24 hours later.
"That was a special match," noted Schubert. "It was Senior Night. It was awesome for the four of them to play lights out and it was exciting for us, too. We had something to prove that night coming off the loss and I think we got some redemption.
"That was awesome coming into these matches knowing that's going to be a battle. We're 1-1, so it's going to be a great match."
The winner of this weekend's best of three will meet the winner of No. 1 Trinity Western and No. 8 Winnipeg in the Canada West semifinals. The winners of No. 2 Mount Royal University vs. No. 7 UBC, and No. 3 Alberta vs. No. 6 Saskatchewan will meet in the other semifinal.
The two finalists, who will meet in the March 7 Canada West championship game, will qualify for the March 12-15 U SPORTS championship, alongside host Calgary.
"When's the last time we've still been jumping and training at the end of February? That's a big part," said Briggs. "This is a long, long season, so they've handled that very well.
"What's exciting is I'm trying to end practices a little bit early and they're like 'let's get going, let's play another (set).' That makes me feel good that they're ready (for this weekend) and they're excited about playing."
