Jason Hills
For MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON — It had to feel like a massive weight lifted off their shoulders.
The MacEwan Griffins faced a lot of adversity in the first half of the Canada West season, but over the last month, they've been playing some strong volleyball without getting rewarded with their first win of the season.
Until now.
They pulled off a thrilling 3-2 victory over the Regina Cougars on Friday (25-20, 12-25, 25-19, 21-25, 15-5) to improve to 1-12 on the season and keep their playoff hopes alive.
Arden Butler led MacEwan with 17 kills and nine digs, while Alyshia Bryks had 16 kills and five digs, and rookie Evangeline Zeyha chipped in with 10 kills on a .533 attack percentage.
"I think you could see in our group, we wanted it so bad, part of that was reflected in the ups and downs. We'd play really well, and then we'd play tight, because we'd want it so bad, and then we'd get hesitant and make some dumb mistakes, and then we'd figure it out," said Griffins setter Payton Shimoda, who led the Griffins with 46 assists.
"It was nice to see in the fifth set that things fell our way, and pure will turned into execution.
"To get our first win (of the season) at home (is huge). When we're switching sides and hear our parents and friends and family go wild, they want it for us too."
The way the Griffins had been playing previous weeks, you could feel the first W of the season was soon coming, and against the Cougars, they showed a lot of poise and while they had their tough moments, particularly in the second set, they found ways to respond when the Cougars would push back.
ACE FOR THE WIN!
— GriffinsWVB (@GriffinsWVB) January 25, 2025
Alyshia Bryks hits a let serve ace on match point to give @MacEwanGriffins their first win of the season, 3-2 over @ReginaCougars!#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/SmYJC5kv7z
"I'm really happy for the group," said Griffins head coach Chris Wandler.
"They worked hard to really get to this point and sometimes you don't get rewarded for all the work you put in and it can get disheartening and tonight we ended up getting the cookie."
MacEwan looked to be in full control leading the opening set from start to finish and didn't face a ton of pressure from Regina.
It was an excellent showing from Butler, who led the Griffins with seven kills and was particularly strong late in the set with a series of massive kills to put Regina away.
Arden Butler led the Griffins with 17 kills on Friday (James Maclennan photo).
But Regina wasn't going to go down easy. They jumped out to a big 8-1 lead in the second set, and had MacEwan on their heels as the Griffins were suddenly out of sync.
Reese Evjen led the Cougars with 16 kills, while Jordy McEachern chipped in with 13 kills and 10 digs, and McKenzie Keible had 19 digs in the loss, as Regina fell to 4-11 this season.
"Regina played some remarkable defence tonight. Kara hit some really fantastic balls, and their libero (Keible) dug her a ton. She finished with 19 digs," said Wandler.
Despite the rough set, the Griffins came back with a big response in the third, controlling the set and never really allowing Regina to go on any extended runs.
Shimoda was able to spread the ball around to what Wandler may have to start calling them the 'Killer B's' as Butler, Bryks and Anika Buys call came up with some big kills throughout the third set and the match.
"I think that was our serve-pass. We were passing really well for the majority of the game," said Shimoda.
"Every time I went up, I had three options, and our middles were doing a really good job of opening up so much space for our outside hitters. They worked their butts off."
Arden Butler puts Set 1 away with authority on her seventh kill of the evening as the @MacEwanGriffins win 25-20 over @ReginaCougars to take a 1-0 lead in their @CanadaWest match.#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/IRKAAK2s2d
— GriffinsWVB (@GriffinsWVB) January 25, 2025
After MacEwan took a 2-1 lead, they got off to a bit of a slow start and were forced to chase the entire way in the fourth set, but they were able to string some strong momentum late in the fourth that really carried over for them in the fifth set.
"The second and fourth set we got a little too ahead of ourselves. We got behind early in that second, and we needed that reminder that it was one point at a time," said Wandler.
"We played well enough to win that fourth (set), and we gained a lot of momentum and we used that in the fifth set."
The fifth set was all MacEwan as they jumped out to a 10-3 lead and there was no way they were going to let that first victory slip away. It was a dominant set from start to finish, highlighted by Bryks who had six of her 16 kills in the fifth set.
"When Alyshia's on, she has a big powerful arm and she does a lot for us. She was a real force tonight," said Wandler.
Anika Buys hammers it home to end the third set in the @MacEwanGriffins' favour 25-19 over @ReginaCougars. MacEwan leads the @CanadaWest match 2-1.#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/jJNPny2CPM
— GriffinsWVB (@GriffinsWVB) January 25, 2025
Wandler was quick to point out the strong play from rookies Zehya and Anika Buys as well.
"Anika and Vange (Evangeline Zeyha) being essentially first year middles for us, they did a phenomenal job," said Wandler.
"They chipped in the fifth set. Vange turned on a couple and was a big physical presence like she can be and Anika had some big blocks and served the ball really well."
With the win, the Griffins are still in the playoff picture, and despite how things have gone this season, they're aiming to push for a playoff spot.
"It's something we can build off. We can have this in the back of our mind that we can do this," said Shimoda.
"The schedule is in our favour… and we just really have to trust that even though the record isn't reflective of what we're capable of, we can move forward and make a big push."
MacEwan will wrap up their weekend series with Regina on Saturday (3 p.m., David Atkinson Gym, Canada West TV).
