EDMONTON – Fighting off a third-set surge from the Griffins, the U SPORTS No. 1 ranked Pandas remained undefeated with a 3-0 win (25-14, 25-12, 30-28) win over MacEwan on Friday night.
Fourth-year Panda Julia Zonneveld paced the Alberta attack with a game-high 13 kills and seven digs, with Kory White adding 10 kills on 23 attempts.
Erica Bolink led the Griffins with nine kills on 22 attempts, with Payton Shimoda adding 22 assists and seven digs.
The win is the fourth-straight for the Pandas over the Griffins, who improve to 7-0 in conference play. The Griffins will search for their first win tomorrow, dropping to 0-7.
The Pandas had little trouble with the Griffins in the first two sets, winning by scores of 25-14 and 25-12. Alberta out-attacked their counterparts significantly in the second, with the Pandas scoring 16 kills on 25 attempts (.560), compared to 8 kills on 21 attempts for MacEwan (.190).
The third set was much closer, with the Griffins taking a 24-21 lead after neither team held a lead of more than two for the entire set.
Zonneveld added three kills late in the third, with the Pandas eventually outlasting the Griffins 30-28.
The two sides will meet again tomorrow night, with first serve set for 6:30 p.m. MT at Saville.
RECORD WATCH
With three total blocks on Friday, Pandas middle Vanessa Jarman has tied the Pandas program record with 281 career total blocks. With one block on Saturday, Jarman will eclipse Alexa Burton (2004-09) for sole possession of the record.