Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – Two weekends away from the end of the season, the MacEwan Griffins women's volleyball team is still searching for its first win.
Where the program is at in their cycle – with 16 players in their first year of eligibility – most knew a 0-14 record at this point of the 2021-22 campaign was a possibility.
Still, the ability to stick with the process, see the growth and stay positive with eyes on the future has been a tough one some days for the team to adopt.
"It's getting harder and harder to sell them on that," said head coach Ken Briggs. "The big thing is I really truly believe we can win any weekend against these teams, but we have to be flawless. Our inconsistencies hurt us.
"What I like about our last month is we've just got more and more consistent," he added. "Now, it's execution at key times of the game. Take last weekend, we were toe to toe at 18 (with U SPORTS No. 2 Alberta) and then experience sets in or nerves set in – whatever it is – it's a lot of things that come into winning a match."
Briggs has been saying all season how much potential this young group of Griffins have. Give them a couple of years and they might reach heights the program hasn't yet seen.
But there are definitely rocky shores to navigate through first.
"I like where we're going, it's just hard to preach patience at this time of year," said Briggs.
It doesn't get any easier for the Griffins this weekend as they head out on their final road trip of the 2021-22 campaign – another visit to Calgary to play the U SPORTS No. 5-ranked Mount Royal University Cougars on Friday (8 p.m.) and Saturday (7 p.m., both Canada West TV presented by Co-op).
"It's still a privilege to travel in this league and play in other facilities," said Briggs, whose squad will finish the 2021-22 season at home against Calgary on Feb. 25-26. "The great thing is we're going back to the same place we were last time. This will be our second trip to Mount Royal in a month, so it's a little bit of familiarity.
"Other than that, they're gearing up for the playoff run. Obviously, they're one of the top teams and we're there to push them as hard as we can."
It's the second time the Griffins will play at MRU this semester after losing a pair of straight-sets matches against them Jan. 21-22. They also lost 3-0 twice to them at home in November.
"The only other time we played them this semester was when we went short-staffed," noted Briggs of an injury situation that forced them play middle Sarah McGee on the outside. "We just had a small squad. We had to really make up some stuff.
"We're really looking forward to this weekend because we had a full team. Everybody's playing, everybody's improving every weekend. Obviously, I think it's a build to the big finale – our senior weekend. I think it's just the next measuring stick for us."
Although it's tough for everyone involved to see the forest for the trees sometimes, especially in a winless season, Briggs believes the growth has been there and will eventually pay off.
"Everybody's playing the best they've ever played in their careers," he said. "It's night and day who we were at the beginning of January until now."
