Lord’s charismatic leadership huge for young Griffins, who host MRU this weekend

Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics

EDMONTON – To give you a small glimpse of Brendon Lord‘s charisma, he was only with the MacEwan men’s volleyball team for three months before he was offered the prestigious honour of giving the ‘Toast to the Griffins’ speech at the 2024-25 Athletics banquet.

Such is his magnetic personality that his name jumped to the front of the queue for the speech normally delivered by longtime Griffins student-athletes.

Head coach Brad Poplawski has noticed the same aura about Lord, who transferred to MacEwan halfway through last season after starting his Canada West volleyball career with Thompson Rivers University.

“Just swagger, confidence – he’s a bro in the best sense of the word,” said Poplawski of what Lord brings to the program. “He’s such a people person. He cares so much. He has such a big heart. He’s an unbelievable human and just cares so much about people. That’s his biggest thing. As a leader, he gets to know his teammates, and I’ve gotten to know him. I just really appreciate that.”

Lord will lead the Griffins into home action this weekend as they welcome the Mount Royal Cougars on Friday (6:30 p.m.) and Saturday (4:30 p.m., both David Atkinson Gym, Canada West TV).

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It could be that Lord is just grateful, enjoying every moment of a university student-athlete’s journey that wouldn’t have been possible without the sacrifices his mom Tracey made when he was younger, raising him as a single mother.

“She worked like three or four jobs when I was growing up so I could afford to play volleyball,” said the Sherwood Park product. “When I started playing volleyball, I had played lacrosse my whole life, up until Grade 9. Club volleyball is not cheap, by any means, especially in comparison to lacrosse. My mom, she picked up extra shifts and some different jobs to be able to support my dream of playing post-secondary volleyball. Aside from God, that’s who I owe it to the most – my mom. 

“If I ever get anxious about how I’m performing, I often think about how much my mom gave up to be able to put me in the position I’m in.”

Brendon Lord has been a stabilizing presence on the court for a young Griffins men’s volleyball team (Husain Dhooma photo).

He’s certainly gone through some tough stuff in his career, most tragically the loss of WolfPack teammate Owyn McInnis, who was killed in a November 2023 vehicle collision. 

No words can properly describe or do justice to the devastation of that moment for the entire team and families of McInnis and two other players who suffered life-altering injuries.

Lord will always have a piece of his heart with his former TRU teammates.

“I made some lifetime friends and made really great memories,” he said. “I have nothing but amazing things to say about the guys who are there and the guys I got to play with while I was there. 

“I think getting to be there and going through everything with the team made me really appreciate volleyball and made me appreciate life in general.”

Unfortunately, a shoulder injury that required surgery in January 2024 limited the first stint of his Canada West career to just six matches with TRU.

But he’s found a home at MacEwan where he’s starting and making a huge impact for a young Griffins team very much in need of the kind of leadership he can provide.

Bringing the heat!
Brendon Lord is dug out once, but not twice as the @MacEwanGriffins go on to take Set 3 25-23 and go up 2-1 in the match vs. @GoTRUWolfPack.#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/jkZSppTWHu

— MacEwan Griffins Men’s Volleyball Team (@GriffinsMVB) October 26, 2025

“I think that swag piece, that confidence,” Poplawski noted of what Lord brings to the court. “No moment is too big for him. Whether he gets a kill or an error, he’s consistent and I just love that. He’s learning if he makes an error that he’s not freaking out. He’s just such a stable presence.

“Obviously, with three first years on the floor right now, I think having a calm guy like that that’s passing next to them, really helps. He’s not ever going to freak out; he’s not going to get mad. I think he can be a calming presence for those guys, which is helping them because they’ve been thrown into a very tough situation.”

Tough or not, they’re all keeping their chins up as they ride through a tough injury wave that’s knocked out three key starters already – two of them due to reckless challenges at the net from TRU players, who crossed onto MacEwan’s side of the court during their series last month.

“The thing we care about the most is being competitive and being a team that’s hard to play against,” said Lord. “I think the first two weekends really showcased that. Going into the UBCO weekend, we had some injuries. Obviously, it’s not an excuse, but we really learned as a team from UBCO, so I think we’re going to try our hardest to bring that same identity into our upcoming weekend against Mount Royal. 

“I think just overall, there’s a lot more positive vibe when you walk into the gym. Guys show they really want to be there, they show intent and hustle. It’s been really great with how well Brad and Patrik (Zimmermann) have been supporting us in different ways and they’re really giving us each thing that we need.”

Brendon Lord is second on the Griffins with 53 kills so far this season (Husain Dhooma photo).

Lord knows what it takes to win because he’s experienced it in high school (part of the first team from Archbishop Jordan to make provincials), club with the successful FOG program, and on the beach. The three-time U18 Beach Alberta gold medalist found success on the sand again last summer when he and partner Duncan McDonald won the Calgary Cup.

“It was pretty surreal,” said Lord. “We were playing against two former pros. It was probably the biggest beach game of my career so far.

“It’s one of those games I look back where there wasn’t much going on in my mind – just enjoying the game and playing it. It was great weather. To be able to go into the Calgary Classic and have success and have all my friends there who were watching the tournament and just being able to share that with them (was special). 

“I spent a lot of time praying this summer about having success in different areas of my life and that was one of the areas I wanted to succeed. I was very blessed by God that that was able to happen.”