Jason Hills
For MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON — Win or lose this season, you could always count on the MacEwan Griffins to put forward a gritty effort.
And Saturday was no different.
The Griffins fell in four sets (16-25, 25-22, 25-20, 25-21) to the Calgary Dinos at the David Atkinson Gym — but they showed no quit.
"It definitely was a gritty effort. We never gave up," said Griffins head coach Chris Wandler.
"They're a good team on the other side, and they started to turn up the physical side of their game and we had a couple situations where we needed a side out and we didn't get it."
It was a game the Dinos dearly needed to win. With the victory – combined with a UBC Okanagan loss to Winnipeg – nabbed Canada West's 10th and final post-season position.
The Dinos finish the season at 7-13 and will meet seventh place Winnipeg in a best-of-three Play-In series next weekend. MacEwan finishes at 3-17 and will miss the playoffs.
Arden Butler led MacEwan with 13 kills and 10 digs in the loss. Playing in her final match as a Griffin, Alyshia Bryks recorded 12 kills, 12 digs and one block.
Payton Shimoda finished with 43 assists, six digs and two aces in the loss for MacEwan.
Sophia Hansen led Calgary with 14 kills and five digs, while Daisy Olsen recorded 13 kills, 10 digs and three blocks in the win for the Dinos.
Ella Black's ace ends Set 1 in favour of the @MacEwanGriffins!#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/mKrIqvg2fP
— GriffinsWVB (@GriffinsWVB) February 15, 2025
MacEwan had a solid opening set. They finished with 14 kills, and were efficient in the attack.
In her her second start of the season, graduating middle blocker Lauren Tensen made a nice impact in the first set. She got an early kill, and with both teams trading points back and forth, she converted a nice tip at the net to tie the set at 12-12.
The Griffins went on a big 9-3 run after the Tensen tip, and Kara Frith, who finished with 12 kills ripped home back-to-back aces in the late stages of the first set to help MacEwan to the commanding set win.
"She (Tensen) held her own for sure. Especially in the first couple of sets. Credit to her, she works really hard. She's a very dedicated person to the program," said Wandler.
Kara Frith puts away a second set kill. The @UCDinos tied the match up with a 25-22 win in Set 2.#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/KPyEx86uyj
— GriffinsWVB (@GriffinsWVB) February 15, 2025
The Griffins controlled the second set for almost its entirety, but the Dinos just wouldn't go away. They hung around and were able to stay within striking distance, and even after back-to-back kills from Bryks to make it 21-19 for MacEwan, the Dinos didn't break.
They eventually took a 23-22 lead, and then an ace from Sam Silva helped propel them to a 25-22 set win.
"We did a lot of good things in those first two sets, but we didn't pass as well as we did last night," said Wandler.
In Friday's match, Hansen was the one who primarily did the majority of the damage in the loss to MacEwan, and while she led the Dinos with 14 kills on Saturday, Olsen stepped up big for Calgary, especially in the third and fourth sets.
With only three kills after two sets, she rattled off five more in the third set, and five more in the fourth set, giving the Griffins another weapon to try and contain — and that proved to be the big difference in the third and fourth sets.
"We didn't get a read on their right-side hitter (Daisy Olsen). She was really good, she was a little off last night, but she found her form today and we couldn't shut her down," said Wandler.
"We had some good hands on her yesterday, and today she changed up a couple of her shots and our blockers lost track of it a little bit."
Alyshia Bryks is up to eight kills, 11 digs and two aces through three sets in her final game as a Griffin - one of four graduating seniors being celebrated tonight.@UCDinos lead @MacEwanGriffins 2-1 in the match.#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/xVU2ncTfnn
— GriffinsWVB (@GriffinsWVB) February 15, 2025
Saturday's loss wrapped up the season for the Griffins and the careers of Tensen, Bryks, libero Madison Hoppus and injured outside hitter Danielle Jodoin, who all graduate this spring
For Tensen, she's battled many injuries throughout her career, but to be able to start in her final match was special.
"Honestly, going in today, I was thinking to just have fun and give it everything I got," said Tensen, who finished with four kills, three digs and one block.
"They're all my best friends, we all become so close on this team, and to be able to share the court with them one last time — it was pretty special."
For Bryks, in her final match, she led MacEwan in kills in the loss and was once again a force, like she's been all year for the Griffins.
"Lots was going through my mind… I wanted to do everything I could today. Every opportunity I had, I wanted to get a kill, and every tough moment, I wanted to get us out of it," said Bryks.
"I know we didn't get the result we wanted, but I'm really proud of the glimpses we showed this season of the team that we could be. The way we finished these last few weekends, we have a lot to be proud of as a team.
"I'm excited to see where the team goes next year in terms of growth, and I hope they can get the results they want, and I know they'll do good."
Danielle Jodoin, who suffered a season-ending knee injury on the first weekend of the 2024-25 season, joined the team for Senior Night on Saturday (James Maclennan photo).
