Jason Hills
For MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON — The MacEwan Griffins are going through a bit of a rough patch, but it's all about how you respond to tough times
MacEwan fell in three sets (25-10-25-19, 25-17) to their cross-town rival Alberta Pandas on Saturday at the David Atkinson gym, but after a nightmare opening set that had everything go wrong that could go wrong, they bounced back with a much better response the rest of the way.
Arden Butler led MacEwan with six kills and four digs, while Alyshia Bryks, Katie Nashim and Evangeline Zeyha all had four kills in the loss.
Payton Shimoda finished with 14 assists and 10 digs for the Griffins, while Abby Guezen led Alberta with nine kills and five digs.
"It went in a positive direction. The coaches mentioned between sets that wasn't our style, wasn't Griffins' volleyball, so I'm proud of how we rebounded and how we progressed," said Griffins head coach Chris Wandler.
"We were in the next two sets until about 13-14, there were some unfortunate things where maybe we didn't take enough risks, and gave them too many opportunities."
The opening set was one the Griffins would definitely like to forget. They allowed Alberta to go on a a 5-0 run and four 4-0 runs, and the Pandas were dominant from the service line recording eight of their 12 aces in the first set.
"That first set was tough. We knew we could be a whole lot better and we had to pull up our socks. It was pretty brutal, and we had to adjust and switch some things around," said Butler.
Bryks came out firing with two early kills and an in the second set to give MacEwan a lead. After Alberta took an 8-6 lead, a nice tip from Zeyha and service ace from Butler tied it at 8-8.
Both teams went back and forth holding leads, and another kill from Butler cut Alberta's lead to 17-16, but the Pandas were able to pull away late and secure the set win.
Katie Nashim scores from the left side for her first kill with the Griffins!#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/U1Ppg5sacx
— GriffinsWVB (@GriffinsWVB) November 9, 2024
"You can't be cautious against a team like the U of A," said Wandler.
"You have to attack, or you'll get eaten up. You have to be aggressive and go for it, and live with the consequences. You can't play perfect volleyball."
In the third set, Alberta jumped out to the early lead, but MacEwan stayed right with them. A kill from Zeyha gave the Griffins a 9-8 lead, and both teams continued to go back-and-forth.
An ace from Shimoda gave the Griffins a 14-13 lead, but after Alberta tied the set at 15-15, they were able to go on a 5-0 run to break it open and take over the set and the match.
Evangeline Zeyha takes a quick set from Payton Shimoda and puts it away in the third.#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/ssA8BBAvwH
— GriffinsWVB (@GriffinsWVB) November 9, 2024
"We were happy with the response after the first set. It could've gone one of two ways, and it went the more positive direction," said Wandler.
"We're going to use all these little positives to stack a good mindset going into Monday. We still have to work around some things and improve at some points."
With the loss, the Griffins fall to 0-6, while Pandas improved to 3-3. It's been a very tough opening stretch of games for MacEwan as they've faced some of the top teams in the country to start their regular season.
They're also fighting the injury bug as well.
"The whole first half is a gauntlet, it's not kind. We have to keep persevering and keep moving forward and keep each other's spirits to allow us to be the style of team we want to be by the end of the year,"said Wandler.
"There's glimmers of some playing together. Some girls are taking on some responsibility and some roles and I'm quite happy with that.
"Maddi Hoppus played great the whole weekend and Payton played phenomenal and played her butt off, and our middle blockers were pretty good. There are lots of glimmers of things, we just have to make sure we're connecting the glimmers more so there is a nice beam of light."
