Laszlo's impressive rise after an injury huge for Griffins ahead of home series vs. Brandon
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | T |
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25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
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17 | 23 | 21 | 0 |
Team Stats
Brandon
| Game Statistics | Brandon | MacEwan University |
|---|---|---|
| Hitting % | .356 | .227 |
| Blocks | 8.0 | 4.0 |
| Digs | 29 | 29 |
| Aces | 3 | 3 |
Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – When they describe an athlete being a flow state, Daylan Laszlo's approach would certainly qualify.
The second-year left side, who has emerged this month as a force for the Griffins men's volleyball team, has mastered the art of playing without having to think about it.
"I have a thing where I kind of let my body decide where to hit," he explained. "I don't know if that sounds good or not. But it's like I try to train my subconscious, so I let my body decide for me. I don't know 100 per cent of the time where my body decides to go, but I'll do that."
Whatever he's doing is working as Laszlo has led or co-led the Griffins in kills for four-straight matches, including averaging 3.83 kills/set during a Jan. 16-17 series at U SPORTS No. 1 UBC.
"The last two weeks, I've just seen such growth from him in training and practice," said Griffins head coach Brad Poplawski. "It's rare you see someone visibly take that step. Even in training, the shots he's hitting, and his confidence is starting to grow.
"I think he's starting to unlock a bit of that player we hoped to see when we recruited him. It's been really fun to see."
Laszlo will lead the Griffins into their final home series of the 2025-26 season this weekend when the defending U SPORTS champion Brandon Bobcats visit for matches on Friday (6:30 p.m.) and Saturday (4:30 p.m., both David Atkinson Gym, Canada West TV).
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Laszlo missed two months due to an injury suffered on Oct. 25 against Thompson Rivers when a WolfPack player came under the net and landed on him. But he turned that frustrating moment into a positive through hard work and it's paying off.
"At the beginning of the fifth set, I got injured and was in a boot for a month," said the 6-foot-7 Chilliwack, B.C. product. "During that time, I was in the gym a lot with Amber (Wardrop), our strength coach. It was purely me working on core and upper body.
"Since then, I've felt like my rotational power has gotten a lot better, so I've been able to hit shots I wasn't able to hit before injury. I felt (during) the time off, I was able to work on some of my weaknesses in my game and it helped me elevate."
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
Poplawski noted that his first weekend back against Winnipeg earlier this month was about knocking the rust off, but he's ascended quickly since then.
"He was playing well when he got injured and when you get injured, it's hard because you don't just come back to where you were, you have to work your way back," he said. "In the three months that he was off, everyone around him on our team and in the league has gotten better. It's like getting on a moving train. It can be very tough coming back from injury.
"He worked really hard. Even in his boot, he was always in the gym, touching a ball, peppering and working on his arm swing. He was in the gym, doing everything he could to get better."
And when you record 23 kills in six sets against UBC, your confidence starts to grow, too.
Daylan Laszlo finds hands as he puts away an overbump in the opening set!@MacEwanGriffins neck and neck vs. @ubctbirds.#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/s8tDlHOTAa
— MacEwan Griffins Men's Volleyball Team (@GriffinsMVB) January 17, 2026
"When you put up big numbers against a big, physical team that's No. 1 in the country, you should have confidence after that," said Poplawski. "I think he's starting to realize some of the things he can do at this level works. His pipe's become quite effective, his serve is getting more and more dynamic. He should have confidence and I think that's such a big thing, knowing you can make plays when you need to.
"We just hope he can continue that and we can keep working with him to grow that confidence. Athletes have a toolbox of skills, and we want to keep growing that toolbox with him."
The dark side of too much confidence, though, is ego – something that Laszlo is aware of.
"I'm trying to keep myself humble, too, so I'm trying not to get too big of an ego with it," he said of his recent run of success. "Obviously I haven't been doing the best job with that. I've seen my ego going up a little bit with that. But we have a great team that keeps me humble and cracks jokes."
Like what?
"Don't even get me started," he laughed. "A lot of the time, I'll say 'mismatch, mismatch on me' and they'll say, 'oh yeah?' and he'll go up and roof me. Fair enough. I asked for it.
"I'm still a second year, after all. I still have a bunch of vet guys on the team that will shut me up once in a while."
