Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics
KELOWNA, B.C. – Already experiencing the adjustment that comes from losing three key players off last year's playoff team, the weight of losing two more starters to injury over the last week was too much to bear for the MacEwan Griffins women's volleyball team as they lost 3-0 for a second-straight night to UBC Okanagan on Saturday.
The cobbled-together lineup looked disjointed, as could be expected with little practice time as a unit learning each other's nuances, and the Griffins got off to an ultra-slow start, dropping the first set 25-8.
Things improved slightly from there, but MacEwan lost 25-18 and 25-16 to suffer a weekend sweep at the hands of the Heat, a team that finished below them in the standings last season.
"It's a ton of inexperience," said MacEwan head coach Chris Wandler. "When you lose two starters in five days, it's tough to triage all that back together to have a solid performance at this level. Our girls did the best they could with the cards we were dealt.
"Lots of little things system-wise fell apart because they weren't used to playing around each other," added Wandler. "They play big roles in instances and that was kind of our story this weekend."
To recap: U SPORTS second team all-star Mariah Bereziuk graduated, as did starting middle blocker Sarah McGee, while standout libero Bronwyn Ettinger transferred to UBC.
Then starting outside hitter Danielle Jodoin, who was beginning to hit her stride, suffered a season-ending injury last weekend against Trinity Western. Starting middle Kara Frith was then injured in morning practice ahead of Friday's match at UBCO.
"You think about it from last year, there were only two players on the court this weekend who started – Payton (Shimoda) and Alyshia (Bryks)," said Wandler. "Arden (Butler) stepped in the last part of the season. So, we're essentially starting with a new crew."
That's going to take time, so the Griffins' theme will be getting better every day.
"We've got a bye week next week, so we've got to get back to work there and work on our collective and individual games," said Wandler. "Just keep building from there. It's the hand we've been dealt."
