Griffins romp to thrilling five-set victory over MRU for their first win of the season

Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics

CALGARY – It was a triumphal mood on the Griffins volleyball team bus as they rode home following the men’s team’s first victory of the season on Saturday.

After defeating the Mount Royal University Cougars 3-2 (25-19, 25-22, 24-26, 21-25, 15-10), head coach Brad Poplawski’s phone was passed the length of the bus to star Mitchell Croft for an interview and jovial voices and mirthful laughter buzzed through the air like an electric charge.

“The boys are frickin’ hyped, to be honest,” said Croft. “They’re all going crazy on the bus.”

It’s everything for a Griffins team that’s worked so hard in training and been so close in many sets this season, only to enter Saturday’s play with an 0-15 record.

“I still think we have a lot of talent in this room,” said Poplawski. “We just haven’t been able to put it all together. Obviously, our conference is very good. It’s been little things here and there. 

“So, I was just really happy the guys put it together tonight and were able to experience that feeling because they work hard for me and do a lot of the stuff I want them to. I’m just really proud of their effort and happy they got to experience that.”

With the result, the Griffins are now 1-15, while MRU falls to 5-11.

GRIFFINS WIN!
Incredible rally on the final point of the match goes the @MacEwanGriffins‘ way as they defeat @MRUCougars 3-2 for their first victory of the season!#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/aPEccqZDKz

— MacEwan Griffins Men’s Volleyball Team (@GriffinsMVB) February 2, 2025

Croft had a match-high 20 kills on a .310 attacking percentage, adding 14 digs and accounting for 20.5 points. He had no aces, but his hard spin serve constantly put the Cougars out of system, which especially keyed a huge Griffins’ run in the fifth set.

“I thought Mitch was fantastic today,” said Poplawski. “He’s such a big presence. I know teams spend a lot of their game plan going against him, so he has a tough job. Every team knows that he’s going to get a lot of volume for us. 

“He got some timely kills, a couple big blocks, some slowdowns. I think when he’s going like that, it’s fun to watch, first of all, when the big man’s making plays. And guys were feeding off that. 

“Then guys made plays with him, so he didn’t have to shoulder the whole load. It was a really big team effort, but obviously statistically and offensively led by him, which was great.”

Mitch Croft’s bullet sets up match point!#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/EmP6mAS7kh

— MacEwan Griffins Men’s Volleyball Team (@GriffinsMVB) February 2, 2025

Croft’s massive kill sent the Griffins to match point in the fifth set where a long rally went in their favour after a Cougars attacking error. 

“As soon as we got to that point where we started pushing away, it just felt like a flow state,” said Croft of the fifth set. “I had a pretty good connection with Mase (setter Mason Natras) and at the end he just wanted to feed me, which was great. I had no doubts about it once we got to that point, which is great.”

Natras split time with Kenneth Ang at setter, but led the team with 25 assists. It was also his ace that ended Set 1 in MacEwan’s favour.

ACE!
Mason Natras drops in a gem of a serve on set point as the @MacEwanGriffins win the opening set 25-19 over @MRUCougars!#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/C7XC5kdoxc

— MacEwan Griffins Men’s Volleyball Team (@GriffinsMVB) February 2, 2025

The Griffins got contributions across the board with Daylan Andison getting 12 kills and 14 digs, and newcomer Brendon Lord – a transfer from Thompson Rivers – producing 10 kills in his first start. Left side Jarod Inia excelled in a temporary switch to libero for the evening, keeping the Griffins’ serve-receive game on point.

“It was a team effort,” said Poplawski. “Brendon Lord got his first start for us and just brought a ton of energy. He’s a vocal guy and plays with a lot of intensity and desire. I think a lot of guys feed off that. He was really good getting us going early.”

And late, they came together in all phases.

Mason Natras led the Griffins with 25 assists (MRU Athletics photo).

“I thought in that fifth set, we were just super disciplined with our block defence,” said Poplawski. “And as we’ve seen when teams do that to us, you get frustrated … ‘what do I have to do to get a kill here?’ They did that to us a bit in the fourth set. In the fifth set, though, we just did a good job being really disciplined with our block and defended our asses off behind it. 

“It just gave us so many swing opportunities and that gave us a lot of momentum points. Mitch took us on a big serving run. He was serving really tough to get us out of system, but then our guys at the net made plays. If it got past, our guys on defence did it. 

“That was probably one of our better attention-to-detail nights that way.”

The victory is something the Griffins can certainly build off of, even though the season is nearly over. It’s a young team that could stay together for a few years.

“It gives us a little bit of freedom in training and little bit of happiness, to be honest,” said Croft. “It’s been a long time coming and it’s definitely well earned. All the boys are going to come in on Monday and are going to love volleyball again.”

The Griffins will close out the 2024-25 campaign with a trip to Manitoba Feb. 7-8 and a home weekend vs. Calgary Feb. 14-15.