Griffins show tons of compete in solid effort that falls short in 3-0 loss to hard-serving Bisons
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
|
|
17 | 18 | 17 | 0 |
Team Stats
Manitoba
| Game Statistics | Manitoba | MacEwan University |
|---|---|---|
| Hitting % | .421 | .194 |
| Blocks | 8.0 | 2.0 |
| Digs | 23 | 21 |
| Aces | 10 | 1 |
Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – There was a moment in the third set on Saturday when Jarod Robert used his body to catch a piece of Owen Weekes' stunning spin serve. Brendon Lord then shot out an arm to keep the deflection in play.
The point ended with Lord blasting it off the block for a kill.
Sometimes reaction time is all you need!
— MacEwan Griffins Men's Volleyball Team (@GriffinsMVB) January 25, 2026
Jarod Robert and Brendon Lord find a way to keep the ball alive and Lord hammers it through the block in the third set.#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/pgV5dcEHqj
Unfortunately, those successful moments were too few and far between for the Griffins men's volleyball team against the hard-serving Bisons as they conceded 10 aces and were out of system too often in a 3-0 loss (25-17, 25-18, 25-17).
Seven of those aces were from Jordan Heppner – including four in a row in the opening set – as, even though MacEwan managed to limit the nuclear serve of Karil Dadash Adeh to just one ace, they were under siege.
"It wasn't (Number) 7 tonight – I mean, he bombed it, but it was (Number) 17 who gave us the problems tonight," said Griffins head coach Brad Poplawski of serves that were clocking in at 115 km/hour. "(Number) 17, it wasn't just how hard it was, he was painting lines, mixing seams – it was very impressive.
"For us, we just have to experience these serves and see them, then apply what we learned from it and just be a little bit quicker in our reading component and just be a little bit faster to recognize the spin."
With the result, the Griffins drop to 0-16 in the Canada West standings, while Manitoba improves to 10-6.
Heppner was the Bisons' best player on the evening, adding 10 kills on an .833 percentage and six blocks to his seven aces for 21.0 points. Weekes had 11 kills, while Sammy Ludwig posted 33 assists.
Big start for Daylan Laszlo, who records his seventh kill of the opening set on this one!#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/MgVyQJyyPW
— MacEwan Griffins Men's Volleyball Team (@GriffinsMVB) January 25, 2026
The Griffins were led (or co-led) in kills by Daylan Laszlo for a fourth-straight match as he posted 11 on a .562 attacking percentage, adding six digs and accounting for 11.0 points. Seven of his kills came in the opening set.
"We identified that post-game and I just said, it's fun seeing his progression coming back from injury," said Poplawski of his second-year outside hitter who missed six games in the first semester with an injury suffered when a Thompson Rivers player recklessly came under the net. "At his frame, his size, I've always had very high expectations for him. It was just a matter of would it be second year, third year; when would he take that step? Improvement isn't just linear, so there will still be bumps, but it's fun seeing that progression.
"I think he's just scratching the surface. He's taken a big step and is becoming a legit left side for us in this league, which is really fun to watch and really fun to work with an athlete like that that is accepting of coaching, wants to improve and works hard."
Kenneth Ang added 26 assists, while Fabian Breitenbach had seven kills.
At times on Saturday, the Griffins were really good, showing more moments of strong play than they have in recent matches, but it didn't last long enough.
"That's what I said to the guys, 'we were right there until we weren't,' " said Poplawski, whose team led for much of the early third set, for example. "The first set was maybe to 13 or 15 and then a five-point run. Same thing in the second and third sets.
"We're trying to identify why that is. We've watched video and I don't think it's just one thing. For us to be successful for more than just parts of sets is limiting those runs."
What a rally!
— MacEwan Griffins Men's Volleyball Team (@GriffinsMVB) January 25, 2026
Fabian Breitenbach pulls off the single block to end it!@MacEwanGriffins showing some solid teamwork as they lead @umbisons midway through the second set.#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/vC8JjJJdN6
"I was really proud of our performance today," added Poplawski. "Finding ways instead of giving up a four-point run, make it a two-point run.
"Patrick (Zimmermann), my assistant coach, just challenged each guy to make one less error in a set. It's not like we have to be so much better. Instead of making three errors a set, we make two. So, we're just nibbling at the edges. If everyone can be five per cent better in limiting our errors (we have a chance)."
The Griffins will be back in action at home next weekend when they welcome the Brandon Bobcats Jan. 30-31.
