Box Score EDMONTON – With better serving and a more disciplined blocking presence, the MacEwan Griffins were able to play portions of Saturday's (Feb. 11) final men's volleyball match of the season in the City Centre Campus gym with the No. 1-ranked Manitoba Bisons.
Except, try as they might, they had no answer for big No. 6 – hulking Bisons left-side Evan Jackson, who piled up 16 kills on a .500 hitting percentage to lead his squad to another 3-0 victory (25-19, 25-21, 25-22).
"We had what I thought was a pretty OK game plan, but he played well," said Griffins head coach Brad Poplawski.
It's the 20th-straight win of the season for the Bisons, who sit atop the Canada West standings at 21-1.\
"Is that what it is? Wow," marveled Manitoba head coach Garth Pischke, whose squad's only loss of the season came back on Oct. 29 against Mount Royal University.
"Well, I want to make it 22 before the season's over. We've got a very good team in a couple of weeks (18-2 Trinity Western), so we'll see how that goes. But it's been a great run, for sure."
Manitoba blew the lid of a close start in the first set with a 6-0 run to get to 11-6 and Jackson's big kill from the left had them up 20-10. MacEwan fought back with a 7-1 run, but were just too far behind and the set ended when Jordan Peters' serve went into the net.
The Griffins led early in the second set off some tough serving and hung with the Bisons until 20 when Manitoba seemed to find another gear, closing it out on Devren Dear's smash off the block and out.
MacEwan again had the lead early in the third and played even with Manitoba throughout the stretch drive, particularly when big Max Vriend – who finished with a team-high nine kills and three blocks – got the quick-hitter in the middle going.
But they just couldn't stop Jackson, trying everything – including subbing in their biggest reserve, 6-foot-7 freshman Mark Alexander – but nothing worked. The Bisons put a wrap on the match when Peters' kill attempt went wide at 25-22.
"They served tougher tonight and that changes everything when we're not passing as well," said Pischke. "We didn't have as many options hitting. Credit to them for coming out and putting a lot more pressure on us from a serving standpoint."
So there are positives for MacEwan to take out of the weekend, even though a sweep drops their record to 4-18.
Fifth-year setters Matthew Mohler and Joshua Peters split time in their last contest in the MacEwan gym, but that wasn't by design, said Poplawski, who subbed in the latter late in the second set. Mohler finished with 15 assists, while Peters had eight to go along with two blocks.
Griffins' fifth-year outside hitter Ryan McDonald was also feted before the game even though he didn't play. A season-long back injury unfortunately scuttled his final season of eligibility.
Dear added 12 kills for Manitoba, while setter Luke Herr piled up a game-high 35 assists.
Both teams will have a bye next weekend before closing out their regular-season campaigns on the road Feb. 24-25. MacEwan will visit UBC-Okanagan (5-15), while Manitoba and TWU will have a showdown for first place.
