Serving, passing breaks down as Griffins fall in straight sets to Wesmen
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
21 | 20 | 13 | 0 |
|
|
25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
Team Stats
Winnipeg
| Game Statistics | MacEwan University | Winnipeg |
|---|---|---|
| Hitting % | .194 | .403 |
| Blocks | 2.0 | 4.0 |
| Digs | 19 | 19 |
| Aces | 3 | 10 |
Jefferson Hagen, MacEwan Athletics
-With files from David Larkins, Wesmen Athletics
WINNIPEG – Out-served and out-passed, things just completely broke down for the MacEwan Griffins in the third set against the Winnipeg Wesmen on Friday night.
After dropping the first two in close fashion (25-21, 25-20), the match ended in the blink of an eye as the Wesmen rode five service aces in the final set to close out the match with a 25-13 win.
"From the service line, our servers did a very poor job and our passers broke as the match went on," said Griffins head coach Brad Poplawski. "You saw in the third set that was almost a complete collapse. We got aced five times that set on balls that I don't think should be beating us."
Winnipeg finished with 10 aces in the match to just three for the Griffins, who compounded their woes with 10 service errors.
With the result, the Wesmen improve to 10-7, dropping MacEwan to 2-15.
It's a shame that's the way the match finished as the Griffins had a chance to take the opening set. However, the Wesmen's defence just wouldn't allow it.
"We talked all week: we know they're a really good defensive team and they're going to dig everything," said Poplawski. "Sometimes, that's hard mentally. We talked about it, but I don't think we were prepared to do that because they won all the long rallies in that set. That ended up being a big factor in the final (portion) of that set."
Max Vriend led the Griffins with 11 kills and seven digs, while Jonathan Mohler had 24 assists.
Daniel Thiessen topped the Wesmen's output with nine kills, while Ethan Duncan had eight in his first home match of the season after sitting out the first 14 games due to injury.
The teams will meet again on Saturday (4 p.m. MT, Canada West TV presented by Co-op).
To achieve a result, the Griffins will have to find a battle level far above what they displayed on Friday, says Poplawski.
"I don't know if we love to battle," he said. "To me, that's what sports is. You have to love to compete and you have to want to be tied at 20. I don't know if we love that right now. We have some guys that do.
"Every team in this league is just so good. You have to expect that it's going to be (hard). No game's every going to be a blowout. Mentally, I wish we embraced and loved that compete. That's what I'd like to see more of the rest of this year."
