Jefferson Hagen, MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – Progression is a buzz word for a young team and it can sometimes seem a little cliché, but the reality for the MacEwan Griffins women's volleyball team is it's the step on the Canada West learning curve they're at right now.
It's their truth.
Although the Griffins suffered another straight-sets loss to Mount Royal University on Saturday (25-15, 25-21, 25-18), there were moral victories and steps to build on.
"We pushed them, we made them work for it, we made them change some things," said Briggs. "I don't like losing, but I'm OK with our incremental rise in play. I just think we're learning."
With the result, the Griffins fall to 0-6 on the campaign, while the Cougars improve to 4-2.
Haley Roe led MRU with 14 kills on .520 hitting efficiency, while Madison Marshall had 10 kills and Quinn Pelland dropped 25 assists.
Erica Bolink paced MacEwan with 10 kills, while MacEwan's middles shone, led by Sarah McGee, who had six kills on a sterling .857 effiency.
"Both middles had a good game," said Briggs. "Sarah really did a good job. She played really well and actually both middles did. Dana (Dunbar)'s stats don't show it. We ran the middle very effectively. Sarah scored well."
It was also the first start for rookie setter Payton Shimoda, who produced 21 assists.
"She just runs the offence really well," said Briggs. "She set a good game, she did a good job."
Briggs noted overall that the progression included making better mistakes.
"We were a notch better than last night," he said. "When you go by stats, we're pretty much 50-50 on (hitting efficiency). We can't break away from that, but at least – and I said it yesterday – we're making better mistakes. We're making aggressive mistakes.
"It's going to be a slow climb, but it was by far our best weekend."
MRU's team efficiency of .311, which blew away the Griffins' .000 mark, was on the backs of their team speed.
"They're a tough team to play because they run the fastest offence we're going to see this year," said Briggs. "If we were playing a regular Canada West schedule, it would still probably be the fastest offence in the league. That's a real eye-opener. It makes our team feel panicky sometimes because you know you make a good play and the ball's coming back really quickly.
"I thought we dealt with it pretty well, but in the end, experience wins."
