Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics

WINNIPEG – In tough without starting setter Payton Shimoda, who is recovering from an injury and didn't make the trip, the MacEwan Griffins women's volleyball team suffered a second-straight 3-0 loss to the Manitoba Bisons on Saturday night.

It wasn't the Griffins' day as they were walloped 25-11, 25-16, 25-13.

"Confidence went wrong in all areas of the game," said Griffins' interim head coach Dusty Freimark as her team finished with a .059 hitting percentage in the match. "Manitoba's a pretty smooth-rolling team. It just seemed super-fast. We couldn't control our mistakes; we couldn't control the pace of the game. 

"It was a big difference not having Payton out of the court. It was a bit of a disaster out there."

With the result, the Griffins drop to 2-12 on the season, while Manitoba improves to 8-6.

Mariah Bereziuk led MacEwan with nine kills, while libero Megan Foxcroft had five digs.

"Megan and her leadership always stands out," said Freimark. "She's always pretty solid for us. Mariah, although her hitting percentage didn't show as one of her best games, I think she did a good job of trying to shoulder more of the load."

Thrust into a starting setter role, rookie Danielle Jodoin finished with 15 assists.

"Renee did a pretty good job," said Freimark. "Definitely having her come in, it was the first time she's got to (start) in a match. It definitely got her some experience if it should ever happen again (that Shimoda's out)."

Freimark noted while they're leaving the losses in the past, there will be plenty of things the team can learn from them.

"You kind of get to see who your leaders are or aren't," she said. "There's a ton of takeaways, It's just moving on now and focusing on what we have to work on."

The Griffins will next host UFV on Jan. 13-14.