EDMONTON – The MacEwan Griffins knew the odds would be stacked against them in a big way against the No. 2 ranked Alberta Golden Bears, but that didn’t stop them from putting up a decent fight.
It was a straight-sets loss (25-17, 37-35, 25-21) on Friday night at the David Atkinson Gym, but MacEwan can certainly walk away knowing they held their own against one of the best teams in the country.
Daylan Andison led MacEwan with 10 kills and seven digs, while Owen Johnson recorded nine kills and three digs in the loss as MacEwan fell to 0-19 this season.
The Griffins hung in with Alberta in the first set, until the Golden Bears went on a 6-2 run to break it open. The second set was an absolute marathon that featured six lead changes, and the score was tied 22 times.
Alberta held a 25-24 lead, but then Andison came up with a big kill to tie it at 25 each. Mitchel Gorman came up with one of his seven kills to tie it at 26. Alberta would continue to take the lead, but the Griffins would punch right back over and over.
A service ace from Seth Birkholz gave MacEwan a 30-29 lead and Jonah Karsten would give them a 31-30 lead, but then it was the Bears turn to punch right back.
A block from Birkholz would tie it at 35-35, but Johnstone came up with a massive kill, and Alberta ended the marathon right after on set point.
Offensively MacEwan was able to spread their offence around nicely, but the Golden Bears seemed to capitalize mostly on the defensive side, as they recorded 20 blocks as a team, including six from Johnstone.
The Griffins certainly got solid performances from Andison and Johnson, who have earned more opportunities throughout this season to play bigger roles.
MacEwan and Alberta will wrap up their weekend series on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. MT (Canada West TV).
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