Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – Sometimes you need to go through painful moments to find your way to the sunshine on the other side.
For the Griffins men’s volleyball team, they dropped two close sets that could have gone either way on Saturday before falling 3-0 to the Saskatchewan Huskies (25-23, 27-25, 25-13).
“I just told the guys after, I believe – I don’t know if I’m right – but I believe part of learning how to react in those situations, you have to be in those situations,” said head coach Brad Poplawski. “It sucks to lose two sets by two points, but I really hope we do learn from that.
“Although it sucks to lose, I do think there’s a benefit from learning from these opportunities. Hopefully, we can keep putting ourselves in them, and learn and grow and the next time to be the team that makes the plays in crunch time.
“It’s disappointing to be on the wrong end of two close sets in a row, but I hope we do learn and grow from it.”
With the result, the Griffins drop to 0-14 in the Canada West standings, while the Huskies improve to 10-4.
In the opening set, MacEwan dodged three-straight set points after going down 24-20 after a Jarod Inia ace made it 24-23. The Huskies snuck out the win when Emmett Graham put away a kill from the right side.
Set 2 featured a run of the best play the Griffins have perhaps had all season, namely a 5-0 mid-set run that gave them a 17-16 lead – a snapshot of the team they’re capable of being. Inia had a big kill, followed by back-to-back blocks from Spencer Loucks and Mitchell Croft.
“I’ve said it a lot this year, I feel, but our high end is quite good,” said Poplawski. “Unfortunately, sometimes our bottom level is a little too low and when we have our lulls, it’s enough to lose us a set or a match. I enjoy watching them when they play like that. It’s a fun group, they love playing the sport, they do the right things. When they execute like that, as a coach, I’m proud of them.
“I think that was a good snapshot in that second set of when it comes together for us what it can look like. Our job as a staff and as players is how can we get to that level earlier in matches, but also have it stay there.”
That led the Griffins to posting a 22-20 lead in Set 2 off a massive pipe play by Daylan Andison, forcing the Huskies to call a timeout. Lifted by the break, Saskatchewan roared back to tie it before Croft gave MacEwan a 23-22 advantage.
But Saskatchewan again went on a 2-0 run and never relinquished the lead after that, although the Griffins made them work for it before Joshua Thorson ended the set with an ace.
Set 3 was almost all Huskies after that as they cruised to the finish.
Croft led the Griffins with 11 kills and three blocks – accounting for a match-high 14.0 points – while Andison chipped in six kills and Mason Natras had 24 assists.
The Griffins head into a bye weekend before returning to action on the road at Mount Royal University Jan. 31 to Feb. 1.
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