Heslinga shines in 3-0 Alberta win

EDMONTON — Isaac Heslinga finished with a match-high 18 kills on just 31 attempts, leading the Golden Bears to a 3-0 win over the MacEwan Griffins on Friday night. 

Mitchell Croft led MacEwan with 10 kills and six digs, while Owen Johnson chipped in with seven kills for MacEwan, while Isaac Heslinga led Alberta with 18 kills in the win for the Golden Bears.

Down multiple bodies already, they were also missing veteran setter Mason Natras against Alberta, which led to Ken Ang making his first career U Sports start for the Griffins.

MacEwan fell down big early in the opening set, but some strong play from Johnson and Croft helped the Griffins chip away at the lead. Back-to-back kills from Johnson and Croft cut Alberta’s lead to 15-14, as MacEwan went on a nice 12-7 run to get back in it.

Spencer Loucks, who is another Griffins player having to step up with others out of the lineup came up with a big kill and a block to make it 24-23, but the Golden Bears were able to squeak out the first set win.

MacEwan came out with a much better start, and were right with the defending champs early on. A big kill from Croft made it 8-8 and then MacEwan was able to take their first lead moments later, and Johnson came through with a nice block to give MacEwan a 11-9 lead.

The second set was a back-and-forth affair as it was tied 14 times, and the lead changed four different times.

Loucks came up with a big block to give MacEwan a 26-25 lead, but they couldn’t hold on as Jacob Sargent stuffed a kill attempt on set point and then Heslinga served up an ace to give Alberta the set win.

MacEwan has faced a gauntlet of opponents through the early portion of the Canada West season, but they’ve shown signs that they can battle with some of the top teams in the country, and they’re not overmatched.

MacEwan will wrap up their weekend series against Alberta on Saturday at 5 p.m. MT (Canada West TV).