Griffins take a set off Cougars and do some good things, but suffer another loss

Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics 

EDMONTON – It would seem the Griffins men’s volleyball team took a step forward, taking a set off the Mount Royal University Cougars before falling 3-1 on Saturday night.

But their previous night’s comment– ‘it’s not enough to just compete’ – frames the picture a bit differently.

That came from captain Alexander Lyndon in the squad’s post-game talk on Friday and still rings true as the Griffins digest the disappointment of a loss that results in them finishing the first semester with an 0-12 record.

They’re not here for moral victories, so this one stings.

“We battled at times,” said head coach Brad Poplawski. “I didn’t love how we kind of went away in the fourth set. I think a lot of that was them. They just really upped their level and they out-physical’d us. They played a very aggressive style, attacking and we just couldn’t sustain what we’d brought up to that point. 

“Yeah, it was good to get a set, but it’s still a 3-1 loss.”

With the 25-20, 20-25, 25-19, 25-12 victory, MRU moves to 8-4 in the Canada West standings.

Chris Byam led the Cougars with 19 kills on a.692 hitting percentage, accounting for a match-high 20.5 points.

Mitchel Gorman led the Griffins with 11 kills, while middle Jonah Karsten had seven kills and four blocks and Lyndon recorded 33 assists.

“Both our middles were extremely involved offensively today, which was great to see. Both Seth (Birkholz) and Jonah put up good numbers for us in the middle and that’s something they’ve been working very hard. 

“It’s nice to see them take the stuff they’ve been trying to do in training and have a little bit of success. They got a lot of big points for us and a lot of important side outs – at least gave us opportunities to be in sets.”

As Poplawski assesses the first semester, there is a lot to mull over. Injuries derailed the Griffins early in the season and they just haven’t found their footing.

“There have been glimpses and good things, but the fact we haven’t won a game, that’s not acceptable,” he said. “You don’t want to be overly negative, but you also have to be realistic. 

“We have a lot of work to do. The guys have four weeks, essentially now. To me, it’s going to show a lot about them, what type of work they can put in these next four weeks with our strength coach. 

“(The semester) wasn’t all negative,” Poplawski continued. “There were positives, glimpses of things and some positive individual performances, but as a team, it’s extremely disappointing.

“We dealt with a lot of adversity, which didn’t help, but we’ve got to be able to push through and find a way, and we haven’t been able to do that yet.”