Griffins take WolfPack the distance, falling 3-2 in hard-fought battle
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
25 | 21 | 23 | 25 | 15 | 3 |
|
|
19 | 25 | 25 | 14 | 7 | 2 |
Team Stats
Thompson Rivers
MacEwan University
| Game Statistics | Thompson Rivers | MacEwan University |
|---|---|---|
| Hitting % | .230 | .113 |
| Blocks | 17.5 | 6.0 |
| Digs | 49 | 50 |
| Aces | 9 | 4 |
Jason Hills
For MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – The MacEwan Griffins took the Thompson Rivers WolfPack the distance on Saturday, earning a hard-fought point in a 3-2 loss.
They came so close to their first win of the season, holding a 2-1 lead in the match, but fell behind mid fifth-set and were on the wrong side of a 25-19, 21-25, 23-25, 25-14, 15-7 scoreline.
"I'm proud of all the guys, they fought to the bitter end, and we need to build on this," said middle blocker Spencer Loucks. "If we can use the bye week to work on the little things and continue to build towards being the team, we want to be.
"I want to win more than anything. I want us to be a team where the other guys will have to put up a fight if they want to beat us."
One night after a reckless TRU play at the net led to the Griffins losing outside hitter Jared Robert to injury, the same things happened to MacEwan in the fifth set on Saturday as Daylan Laszlo was forced out of the game when a TRU player came under the net and Laszlo landed on him after an attempted block.
"It really sucks that we lost Laz... that really hurt us in the fifth set. We really hope it's not too bad of an injury," said Loucks.
"He was playing great. I was so happy cheering him on every time he got the ball, he was making plays. He works harder than anybody, and he always wants to get better. It hurt to see him get taken down tonight."
Fabain Breitenbach led the Griffins with 14 kills and six digs, while Laszlo recorded nine kills and 12 digs, before the injury.
Kenneth Ang recorded 35 assists, while Brendon Lord tallied 12 kills and seven digs in the loss for MacEwan.
Alex Howard led TRU with 20 kills and nine digs, while Parker Bailey and Ryan Ibbetson chipped in with eight kills each, as TRU improved to 2-0.
TRU won the opening set, leading the entire distance. The Griffins were able to get within two points on three different occasions throughout the set, but after Laszlo cut TRU's lead to 17-15, MacEwan wasn't able to close the gap any further.
The Griffins came out much stronger in the second set, jumping out to an early lead. Ibbetson recorded two of his four aces to give TRU a 10-9 lead, but Lord crushed a kill down the pipe to restore MacEwan's lead to 11-10, and they never relinquished the lead the rest of the set.
The Seth Birkholz-Fabian Breitenbach double block special seals Set 2 in favour of the @MacEwanGriffins! This match is all tied up 1-1 with @GoTRUWolfPack #GriffNation pic.twitter.com/jeugMxOrXf
— MacEwan Griffins Men's Volleyball Team (@GriffinsMVB) October 26, 2025
"I thought our communication was a lot better today. There were plays yesterday that we just let the ball drop, but today, we took the time to get the set ready for Kenny (Kenneth Ang) to run our offence," said Loucks.
MacEwan and TRU went back-and-forth in the third set. The Griffins held an early lead before TRU tied it at 10-10, and then the Wolfpack enjoyed the lead for a while, but the Griffins stayed within striking distance.
A kill and ace from Lord, cut TRU's lead to 15-13, and then another kill from Lord and an ace from rookie Ethan Pavone cut the Wolfpack lead to 20-19. Lord's block a short time later gave MacEwan a 21-20 lead, and they held on for a 25-23 set win.
"There was a lot of bouncing back and forth, and in practice Pops (head coach Brad Poplawski) talked about having those up and down moments, and we need to stay on the gas and maintain the speed we want to be at," said Loucks.
"Some sets, we were doing that, and other sets we were going too much up-and-down."
Bringing the heat!
— MacEwan Griffins Men's Volleyball Team (@GriffinsMVB) October 26, 2025
Brendon Lord is dug out once, but not twice as the @MacEwanGriffins go on to take Set 3 25-23 and go up 2-1 in the match vs. @GoTRUWolfPack.#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/jkZSppTWHu
With a chance to get their first win of the season, the Griffins were held in check for the entire fourth set. TRU amped up their intensity, had MacEwan on their heels.
TRU led the entire way in the fourth set.
MacEwan tried to regain momentum and started the fifth set strong, but after Laszlo was forced out of the game, the Griffins couldn't rally.
It was a tough loss for MacEwan, but they showed this weekend they won't be a team that gets run over. They're going to make their opposition battle for every point.
"They played good defense in those last two sets, I don't think they let any ball drop. They picked up the little things and were able to make something out of it, and that's something we can learn from," said Loucks.
