Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics
SASKATOON, Sask. – When a tough serving team also has a big block, it can be a nightmare for their opponents.
That's the fate that befell the MacEwan Griffins men's volleyball team, whose match against the Saskatchewan Huskies was over quickly in straight sets (25-15, 25-10, 25-16) on Saturday.
"Sask really came to play," said MacEwan head coach Brad Poplawski. "They put a lot of stress on us from the service line and they're a disciplined blocking team.
"We couldn't maybe handle that pressure from the service line with their block, so they kind of imposed their will on us that way. They served very aggressive. We had a little bit of trouble siding out with that serve."
It led to some low efficiency numbers for the Griffins, who hit at just .031 for the match, but the second set was particularly putrid as they combined for a -.231 hitting percentage.
"I think we were in the negatives in the second," said Poplawski. "When you have more errors than kills, it's tough to compete.
"They forced us into those. When we're out of system and they're a big blocking team, we couldn't find solutions to those problems today."
With the result, the Griffins fall to 0-4 on the Canada West season, while the Huskies improve to 3-1, completing a weekend sweep.
Aidan McLennan, working on the right side, led the Griffins with nine kills and seven digs, while posting the best efficiency numbers on the team (.190).
"He did some good things for us at times," said Poplawski of the second-year Lloydminster, Sask. product. "He challenged their block a bit."
Both Levi Olson and Dylan Mortensen produced 11 kills and two aces for the Huskies, while Quinn Buchanan had five kills and six blocks.
MacEwan's other major downfall in the match was their serving. They had 15 service errors in a three-set match.
"I don't know if we were trying too hard from the line, but we missed way more serves than we usually do today," said Poplawski. "So, it was really tough.
"It would take two, three, four times sometimes to side out for us and then we'd go back and miss a serve, or they'd just pass, hit and side out really easily. It was hard to get any flow or rhythm offensively that way."
Next up for the Griffins is another road trip to UBC on Nov. 4-5.
