Griffins drop five-set heartbreaker after MRU rallies back from 2-0 down to take the match
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
23 | 26 | 25 | 25 | 15 | 3 |
|
|
25 | 28 | 19 | 18 | 11 | 2 |
Team Stats
Mount Royal University
MacEwan University
| Game Statistics | Mount Royal University | MacEwan University |
|---|---|---|
| Hitting % | .283 | .250 |
| Blocks | 8.0 | 8.0 |
| Digs | 28 | 28 |
| Aces | 7 | 4 |
Jason Hills
For MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – Thrust into action due to a bunch of injuries, MacEwan's young players are showing what they're made of as they gain valuable experience.
While it's not translating into victories right now, they showed they won't back down from a battle.
MacEwan lost a five-set heartbreaker (25-23, 28-26, 19-25, 18-25, 11-15) to the Mount Royal Cougars on Friday night at the David Atkinson gym.
"The guys were hungry, and, in my mind, we weren't playing scared. We left it all on the floor in that last set. I always felt like we could come back when we were down," said Griffins setter Kenneth Ang.
"We battled back in every set we played, and we had some big comebacks, especially in that second set. We need to continue to build that belief within ourselves."
Fabian Breitenbach led MacEwan with 20 kills, three aces and three digs, while Brendon Lord recorded 13 kills, and Spencer Loucks was a force in the middle with 11 kills on a .500 hitting percentage.
Kale Orr was outstanding, leading MRU with 29 kills as Mount Royal improved to 5-2, while MacEwan fell to 0-7 with the loss.
The Griffins earned the hard-fought opening set as both teams went back and forth, and neither team could string together any lengthy scoring run.
The set was tied 18 times and had six lead changes.
Captain Seth Birkholz put the finishing touches on the set win for MacEwan with a nice kill to make it 24-23 and then came up with a monster block to give the Griffins a 25-23 set win.
THE DEFENCE!
— MacEwan Griffins Men's Volleyball Team (@GriffinsMVB) November 15, 2025
Two incredible digs precede the signature moment of the opening set as Seth Birkholz's block secures a 25-23 @MacEwanGriffins win!
Props to Fabian Breitenbach on that serve, too! ��
Griffins leading @MRUCougars 1-0.#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/k6vowi6CeG
In the second set, the Griffins fell behind early and allowed MRU to take control of the set. A 7-0 run gave the Cougars a commanding 16-9 run, and they looked completely out of sync, but the Griffins found a way to battle back.
"We got stuck on a rotation, and we switched some things up. Lincoln (Pinchuk) came in and gave us a boost, and our float servers did great. They were hitting our targets, and we weren't missing, which allowed us to actually play the point," said Ang.
"That comeback really came down to our float servers coming in and getting the job done. Everyone fed off that, and it became a domino effect."
Slowly they chipped away, and a nice kill from Lord cut MRU's lead to 23-20, and he followed it up with a block to make it 23-21.
MRU had two chances to get the set win, but Lord came up with two clutch kills to eventually tie it at 25-25.
ACE FOR THE WIN!
— MacEwan Griffins Men's Volleyball Team (@GriffinsMVB) November 15, 2025
Fabian Breitenbach's spin serve hits the floor to wrap up Set 2 28-26 in favour of the @MacEwanGriffins, who now have a 2-0 lead over @MRUCougars #GriffNation pic.twitter.com/S00lyGgw9k
A powerful ace from Breitenbach gave MacEwan the 28-26 set win, and they looked to be in control.
"We had a lot of positives in this game tonight. We had so many guys come off the bench, and battle and give it their all," said Ang.
"I think overall as a team, we all played great, but at certain moments we made too many mistakes."
MacEwan jumped out to an early lead in the fourth set, but MRU stayed within striking distance, and eventually regained the lead, and while the Griffins were able to keep it close, MRU seemed in control, and an ace from Orr gave them a 24-17 lead.
That set win turned the game completely around for MRU. They found their rhythm offensively, and made very few mistakes, only making eight attacking errors in the final three sets.
"We were just making some silly mistakes we don't normally make," said Ang.
"We got away from playing our system and started freelancing too much. If we don't trust the system, mistakes get made and that hurt us."
Rookie setter Lincoln Pinchuk finished with 17 assists (Husain Dhooma photo).
MacEwan got strong performances from some of their rookies who were pressed into action with the injuries the Griffins have been dealing with.
Rookie setter Pinchuk played four of the five sets, recorded 17 assists, and helped stabilize the Griffins at the service line.
Ethan Pavone recorded four kills, five assists, four digs and one block while Solomon Flindall saw action in each set and made several strong passes to set up the Griffins offence.
In total, five rookies saw the floor in key moments against MRU.
"I loved our fight today. Everybody got in, and everybody did their job. I loved our intensity. It's tough that we lost, but we have to focus on the process that we build on this," said Pavone.
"Given our situation, this was going to be a hard game to win, but we put our best foot forward and did everything we could, we just fell a bit short."
MacEwan will wrap up their weekend series against Mount Royal on Saturday at 5 p.m. MT (Canada West TV).
