Jason Hills
For MacEwan Athletics

EDMONTON – How do you build a culture? A standard of expectations? A foundation that remains strong year-by-year?

It's brick-by-brick, and that's been the MacEwan Griffins' mentality. 

For the past several years, the Griffins have learned some tough lessons and fought through adversity, and it all started to come together last year with their first playoff appearance since the 2019-20 season. 

But they're not satisfied to just make the playoffs – they want that to become the standard. They want to become a team that can also make some noise when they get there. 
"From the get-go, we made these team goals to not settle for where we were last year. We want to progress more. A lot of it comes from confidence in our group," said Griffins' captain and fourth-year setter Payton Shimoda. 

"We don't have this long legacy to coast on, we have to build it for ourselves every year, and it's a challenge, but we had success last year, and now we need to build on it. 

"We established a good culture and identity with who we are, and the standard of play in practice we want to achieve. We can hold ourselves accountable knowing what we're capable of." 

MacEwan opens the season vs. Trinity Western on Friday (5 p.m.) and Saturday (3 p.m., both David Atkinson Gym, Canada West TV).

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The Griffins no longer have U SPORTS second team all-star Mariah Bereziuk and veteran middle Sara McGee, who both graduated the program – along with starting libero Bronwyn Ettinger, who transferred to UBC – but a group of veterans, mixed with a strong recruiting class are ready to take the spotlight.

Among 11 returning players are fourth-year veterans Danielle Jodoin and Alyshia Bryks, who will play a more prominent role in the Griffins attack. 

"One cool thing with our team this year is we don't have that one person coming to replace that one superstar. I feel like all our veteran girls can take a step forward as a group," said Shimoda. 

"I'm quite excited to see how Dani and Alyshia, and Kara (Frith) react to more volume and more responsibility, because they're so capable, and I think they will all play integral roles to our success." 

The Canada West schedule is never easy, as several of the teams are consistently ranked among the country's best. So, each year there is a section of the schedule that is typically a gauntlet. 

For the Griffins, they're facing the gauntlet right at the start of the year. 

The open this weekend at home against the powerhouse Trinity Western Spartans, who last won a national championship in 2022, and were silver medalists in 2023. They also face the Alberta Pandas, who came off a silver medal at nationals last year, and the defending national champion, UBC Thunderbirds, all within the first five weeks of the regular season. 

"I don't think it matters who we play each week in the Canada West conference, it's going to be a challenge," said Griffins head coach Chris Wandler. 

"We're going into matchups against some highly-ranked national level teams, and we're going to go in with our style of volleyball we're familiar with and compete hard and see where we're at. 

"We want to learn and build each week, and take lessons from the W column, or the L column. We're not going to be the same team in October that we're going to be in February." 

Veteran Griffins players (from top) Danielle Jodoin, Alyshia Bryks, Kara Frith, Payton Shimoda and Andi Krawec will be crucial to their success this season (Jefferson Hagen photo). 

University sport is cyclical. It's a given that every year, there are new faces on each roster. Student-athletes graduate and move on from the program, and it's up to the next group to carry the torch and help lead the program. 

Wandler is confident that his veteran core can step up and lead the way. 

The Griffins will no doubt rely on their returning group, led by Shimoda, Bryks, Jodoin, Frith and Arden Butler. 

"Yes, yes, yes. I trust them completely. We're a different version of the MacEwan Griffins, and nobody emulates another player, but I fully trust the group that's here with MacEwan this year," said Wandler. 

"When you're in your third, fourth and fifth years, that's what you strive for. You learn from your teammates from your first few years, and you learn what fits with your game, and I'm quite excited for those athletes to step on the court to showcase what they've learned over the last number of years." 

All good teams need some youth to integrate within their group of veterans to come in and carve out a role, and Shimoda believes this is the strongest group of recruits the program has had in her tenure. 

Joining the Griffins are Evangeline Zeyha and Katie Nashim, who both transferred from Northwest Polytechnic, while libero Kaitlin Rolph, setter Katelynn Hennessy and outside hitter Anika Buys will enter their rookie university seasons.

With their experience at the collegiate level, Zeyha and Nashim could make an immediate impact. Both have won awards with Northwest Polytechnic.

"Evangeline and Anika have started off super strong," said Shimoda. 

"Our first years have shown up in a way that we didn't expect. They're very skilled and have provided a strong presence off the bat. I think they can play big roles for us, this year."