Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics
VANCOUVER – The Griffins were able to witness the kind of volleyball that makes waves at the Canada West level.
Unfortunately, it was on the other side of the court.
UBC's Akash Grewal entered off the bench on Saturday and took over the match with seven of her nine kills in the decisive third set as the Thunderbirds won 3-0 (25-16, 25-23, 25-15).
"They had one athlete come in off the bench and was a wrecking ball," said MacEwan interim head coach Dusty Freimark. "She was fearless, she went for it, and she served aggressive."
Exactly the type of play the Griffins have been talking about becoming.
"That's what we've been talking about with our girls – that killer instinct where anything goes," said Freimark. "You just don't know what's going to happen when you stay aggressive. We talked about her a lot in our post-meeting. You're rewarded when you go for it."
UBC moved to 6-0 on the Canada West season with the victory, dropping MacEwan to 0-6.
Although the young Griffins were swept for a third-straight weekend, the experience wasn't without positives as they pushed one of the top teams in the country at times, just not consistently.
"I think it's more of the same," said Freimark referring to Friday's straight sets loss. "We can battle with them until we get to that 20 mark.
"I believe that we're making steps forward, there's just so many steps we have to make forward at this point and we're just kind of trying to be patient with the process."
Mariah Bereziuk led the Griffins in kills for the fifth time this season with eight, while Sarah McGee played her strongest match of the season with five kills on a team-leading .429 hitting percentage, adding four blocks, an ace and two digs.
"Sarah did well for us," said Freimark. "She got some blocks; she had a good presence on the court. We just have to figure out a way to get more (people going). We have one or two, but it's just not enough at this level."
UBC was led by Elise Petit (10 kills, 11 digs and three blocks), while Grewal had nine kills on a .600 hitting percentage off the bench.
The key takeaway for the Griffins out of the weekend, though, is that when they do things the right way, they can go toe-to-toe with anybody in the conference.
"We can compete, we just have to figure out our confidence and our self-belief," said Freimark.
MacEwan heads into a bye week before hosting the Calgary Dinos on Nov. 18-19.
