EDMONTON — The MacEwan Griffins can take a lot of good lessons from their cross-town rivals, the University of Alberta Golden Bears this weekend.
In a battle of youth versus experience, the Griffins hung around at times with the perennial national championship contender, but were simply overmatched.
The Griffins struggled to contain the Bears high-powered serving attack and lost in three straight sets (25-13, 25-19, 25-16), Saturday afternoon at the David Atkinson gymnasium.
Fourth-year outside hitter Alexei Walisser led MacEwan with five kills in the loss, while the Bears duo of veterans Jordan Canham and Braedon Friesen led Alberta with 10 and seven kills, respectively.
One area of strength the Griffins showed in the preseason was their serve-pass game, but Alberta was able to pick it apart, especially in Saturday’s rematch as Canham and Friesen displayed immense power and finesse when attacking the Griffins.
MacEwan battled Alberta punch for punch in the opening set, but with Bears middle Grayden Wiebe on the service line, MacEwan struggled with his float serve and Alberta went on an 8-0 run to take command of the opening set.
That run seemed to shake the confidence that the Griffins had, and Alberta took advantage and were in full control over the next two sets, only giving up the lead once on the opening point of the third set.
Alberta led the entire second set, but MacEwan did show some fight as they closed a 15-10 gap to 16-15 after a big block from first-year outside hitter Isaac Heslinga, but the Golden Bears went on another run, capped off by back-to-back aces by Canham.
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