Pandas sweep Griffins with second 3-0 win

EDMONTON — Kory White inched closer to Canada West history on Saturday night, recording 18 more kills in the Pandas road 3-0 win (25-16, 25-18, 25-16) over the MacEwan Griffins.

The 18 kills puts White within three of the Canada West record of 1,321, with four conference games left this season. Fifth-year outside hitter Erin Corbett recorded nine kills and eight digs and two aces in the victory.

Second-year outside hitter Mariah Bereziuk led MacEwan with 11 kills and four digs, while first-year outside hitter Alyshia Bryks recorded eight kills and three digs.

Slow starts in sets have plagued MacEwan this year, but the Griffins came out strong and battled hard against one of the perennial national championship contenders.

In the opening set, the Griffins held a 10-9 lead after a kill from Shimoda. A nice dig from Shimoda led to a big kill from Bereziuk cut the Pandas lead to 15-12, but Alberta was able to go on a 11-4 run to take full control of the set.

In the second set, the Griffins continued to push Alberta and were tied 10-10 after some strong play from Bryks, who entered the game. Her strong attack gave MacEwan another weapon against the Pandas.

Some strong blocking from first-year middle Sarah McGee tied the set at 13-13, but the experience of the Pandas showed off once again as they went on another 11-5 run to close out the set.

MacEwan came out very strong in the third set and held the lead for a good portion of the set, but after a serve error that gave Alberta their first lead, they would go on an 8-2 run to give them a 20-14 lead and MacEwan wasn’t able to recover.

MacEwan will travel to take on the Mount Royal Cougars next weekend in Calgary, and then close out their regular season the following weekend at home against the University of Calgary Dinos.