Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics
SASKATOON, Sask. – Coming so close to victory in the opening set ended up being the moment that derailed the Griffins women's volleyball team on Friday.
The Griffins held a 23-22 advantage in the set, but wound up on the losing end 25-23 after a small run against ended with a scramble play that forced them into four hits.
Reeling from the moment, they went relatively quietly after that, falling 25-15 and 25-18 to lose in straight sets to the Saskatchewan Huskies.
"The first set was really good," said Griffins head coach Chris Wandler. "We played really well. We just missed a couple of assignments – blocking and serving-wise – late in that first set.
"We had them. But when you miss those key moments, that spirals into the second set. It's emotionally disappointing when you have a game plan and people know exactly what to do, but maybe you have a bit of a mental block and it doesn't happen."
With the result, the Griffins are still searching for their first win of the 2024-25 Canada West season as they fall to 0-11, while Saskatchewan improves to 6-7.
Arden Butler led the Griffins with seven kills, ace and eight digs, while both Alyshia Bryks and Kara Frith chipped in five. Anika Buys had an efficient performance at .364 with five kills and a match-high six blocks.
What a rally in the opening set!
— GriffinsWVB (@GriffinsWVB) January 18, 2025
Arden Butler finishes it off in the @MacEwanGriffins' favour.#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/bqaPMEJnOT
"Our middle blockers were very good all night, even with how poorly we passed," said Wandler. "Anika Buys was really good tonight. She was super efficient."
Rosetta Cyr led the Huskies with 16 kills, while Taryn Hannah had 13 kills and four of the Huskies' 10 service aces in the match, while adding 10 digs.
"That first set just looked like that team we aspire to be," said Wandler. "Everybody was in tune. The blockers were clicking."
But with a 23-22 lead, the Huskies found three points in a row.
"It spiralled a little bit into that second set," said Wandler of the loss in momentum. "There was one rotation in that second set when we got caught and we couldn't get out of it in time. We weren't passing the ball, our outside hitters couldn't put the ball away, so it made it very tough."
That led to a 20-10 lead for Saskatchewan and they put it away at 25-15 on a kill by Ella Milne.
The Huskies continued to roll to the finish, leading the third set 20-13 and closing it out on when Frith's serve went long.
The teams will meet again on Saturday (3:30 p.m. MT, Canada West TV).
