EDMONTON – The MacEwan Griffins were no doubt using this weekend as a measuring stick against the nationally ranked No.8 Manitoba Bisons. 

And while they may have lost a four-set heartbreaker (23-25, 24-26, 26-24, 25-22), they certainly showed they can battle with one of the best teams in the country on Friday night at David Atkinson Gym. 

Alyshia Bryks led the Griffins with 15 kills and five digs, while Sarah McGee added 10 kills, four digs and two blocks. The Bisons really keyed on Griffins' kill leader Mariah Bereziuk, but she still finished with 12 kills, eight digs and two blocks. 

Raya Surinx led Manitoba with 23 kills, seven digs and two service aces, while Light Uchechukwu recorded 13 kills and nine digs. Julia Arnold led the Bisons with 19 digs. Surinx's kills total tied her career high for a four set match. 

If there was one turning point in the game, it came in the second set. After a close opening set, the Griffins were well on their way to winning the second set, thanks in large part to the strong serving run of Arden Butler to propel MacEwan to a 17-7 lead, but then the Bisons hunted MacEwan down and ended up with the comeback 26-24 set win. 

"It was a tale of two rotations. We went on a nice spread with Arden, but then we let Raya (Surinx) get to us with her spin serve and we just couldn't find a way to get a side-out," said Griffins head coach Chris Wandler. 

"Raya is a really good player. She went off for 23 kills tonight. We limited some of their other players offensively, but 25 was good for them." 

After such a gut tough second-set loss, the Griffins could've just packed it in and said it wasn't their night, but they showed a lot of fight in the third set. 

They jumped out to another big lead, but again allowed the Bisons to fight their way back into it, but this time they found a way to close out the set with a win. The Griffins held the lead the entire way until Bisons outside hitter Ella Gray served up an ace to take a 25-24 lead. 

MacEwan and Manitoba will wrap up their weekend series on Saturday at the David Atkinson Gym at 4:30 p.m.