Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – It's not quite accurate to call the MacEwan Griffins women's volleyball team a veteran group, but they also can't be referred to a 'young team' anymore in the Canada West ranks.
The core of the team comes out of a strong 2021 recruiting class that was thrown into the fire after the pandemic and have already learned an entire career of lessons since.
So, now that they're seasoned and battle tested, the Griffins have a clear and realistic objective in front of them in 2023-24: make the playoffs.
It certainly won't be an easy task to make the top eight in the tough Canada West ranks, but they also won't be an easy out for anyone all season long, as evidenced by their last match of the preseason.
The Griffins pushed defending national champion UBC at a neutral site at UFV on Oct. 14 before falling 3-1 (25-22, 21-25, 26-24, 25-15).
"UBC, they're a wicked serving team, so I think it really challenged us on the base level – what are we looking at when it comes to serve receive and pass," said Griffins middle blocker Sarah McGee. "We took UBC to 26-24 in one set we lost and the set we won was 25-21.
"It's so close that it's motivating. We have a lot more confidence going into this year because we have our entire starting lineup back. Now we have the experience under our belts, so we can be a lot more confident."
MacEwan will open the season on the road in Calgary on Friday (6 p.m.) and Saturday (6:30 p.m., both Canada West TV).
McGee is taking the reins as team captain after Megan Foxcroft graduated from the program.
"It means a lot," she said. "I definitely have big shoes to fill, but I've had some great leaders that I've been able to watch and learn from, like Megan from last year. She had a big role of not only leading with good words but leading by example. So, I'm definitely trying to implement that.
"We also have lots of good leaders on our team that are just a great support system in helping me learn this new role, as well."
McGee is one of 11 players on the Griffins who are entering either their third or fourth years with the program. Along with a handful of key players entering their second year, the team is also bolstered by a solid crop of four rookies.
Only McGee and Mariah Bereziuk, though, can bridge eras of the program as they were on the pre-pandemic roster of 2019-20 that was the first Griffins women's volleyball team to qualify for the Canada West post-season.
"That's our goal, 100 per cent, is playoffs," said McGee. "It would be super cool because in my first year we made playoffs for the first time, so it would be cool (to make it again) because this is my last year. It would be a cool full-circle moment."
And truthfully, Canada West is wide open. The annual preseason coaches poll saw five different teams garner first-place votes, while who finishes in the middle of the pack is anyone's guess. Calgary, this weekend's opponent was voted 7th, ahead of 12th place MacEwan, but the teams are much closer than that. The Griffins are confident their game stacks up well against the Dinos, whom they met in split-squad scrimmages in preseason and are eager to prove it this weekend.
"They're a team we're so close with, so playing them early on in the season is good," said McGee. "They're going to be hard, and they always are.
"Having confidence going into it and knowing our abilities (will be key)."
MacEwan's home-opening weekend is set for Oct. 27-28 vs. Saskatchewan (6 p.m. and 3 p.m., respectively, David Atkinson Gym, Canada West TV).
