Jefferson Hagen, MacEwan Athletics
CALGARY – As evidence that his team is evolving and growing, Brad Poplawski's MacEwan Griffins men's volleyball squad broke through for their first set win of the year before falling 3-1 to the Calgary Dinos on Saturday night.
Calgary won 27-25, 25-21, 22-25, 25-12 in a match that wasn't easy for the No. 7-ranked team in U SPORTS.
Although it wasn't a win, the turnaround for the Griffins was palpable after they lost in straight sets to the Dinos on Friday.
"We definitely had a better start tonight and had chances in that first set where we could have turned it around – we had a few swings to get the advantage and didn't capitalize," said Poplawski.
"I was really impressed with our video session today. A lot of times you can identify things but you can't necessarily change them for that evening. But our guys did. A lot of the things we talked about we executed and were able to make those changes.
"That's a good sign that this team is growing and maturing a little bit that we're able to do that."
Alexei Walisser and Ethan Nashim both had 15 kills for the Griffins, while both Nashim and Jefferson Morrow had a team-high 11 digs. Alexander Lyndon recorded 42 assists and middle Jonah Karsten sparkled with six kills on 10 attempts for a sizzling .600 efficiency.
"For a first year to come in and hit 60 per cent and do what he did; we have two really good middles, so for a young guy to put up some offence for us was huge," said Poplawski. "Alexei and Ethan did a really good job. Jefferson passed well. Alex Lyndon really took a step forward in his progression as a setter.
"Again, five of these guys starting for us didn't even play for us two years ago. So, we're very much learning about each other, learning about this league," he continued. "We're very much still evolving as a team, so to see some progression and some big offensive nights from a couple of those guys was a really big positive for me."
With the result, the Griffins fall to 0-4 in the standings, while Calgary improves to 4-0.
Next up for MacEwan is a pair of home matches vs. Mount Royal University (0-4) on Nov. 26-27.
