Griffins' playoff run ends after dropping wild five-setter to WolfPack

Jefferson Hagen, MacEwan Athletics

EDMONTON – There might not be a roller-coaster ride on the planet that could keep up with the crazy highs and lows on display in Canada West women's volleyball quarter-final action at the David Atkinson Gym on Friday night.

Among the momentum swings were an 11-1 run for the Thompson Rivers University WolfPack to close out Set 2, followed by a 17-3 trot for the MacEwan Griffins to dominate Set 4.

In the end, the biggest high of all belonged to the visiting WolfPack, who managed to right the ship with a terrific fifth set for a 3-2 win (25-13, 25-21, 22-25, 18-25, 15-8) that will forever be etched in program history. It's the first time since TRU joined Canada West in 2005 that they've won a women's volleyball playoff series.

"I think it's big for the program," said head coach Chad Grimm a year after his team took an important first step with their first playoff match victory. "Until people have been through that, it's all talk and hearsay on the court and you need to feel what it's like to be there. I think that experience is obviously good.

"We have been to playoffs four out of the last five years, so the girls have felt that. They've never had the feeling of being so close to closing out a series. Hopefully that makes it a little bit easier next time."

TRU, which won the opening game of the series 3-1, now advances to the Canada West semifinals next weekend at No. 1 seed Trinity Western, who took out No. 8 Winnipeg in two-straight.

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Early on Friday, it seemed the WolfPack would advance without much of a fight as they steamrolled the Griffins in Set 1, forcing the home side into a nightmare -.121 hitting percentage.

MacEwan found its footing in the second set, though, after going to Plan B in their attempt to find a lineup that worked with injured kills leader Lauren Holmes on the sidelines. Jocelyn Peters entered on the right, Carly Weber shifted to the left and they even mixed backup setter Mackenzie Oshanek-Gladue into the proceedings.

"We tried a Plan B lineup that we've trained the last two weeks as a desperation move and it kind of rallied us," said MacEwan head coach Ken Briggs. "But like any sport, desperation moves work for a little while and eventually they get figured out."

For TRU that came in a stunning 11-1 run to rally back and win the second set after trailing 20-14 – almost a carbon copy of the death knell 10-0 run the Griffins conceded to lose Set 2 on Thursday night.

Rather than have it finish them off this time, the home side found a level of gumption, grit and determination only seen in a team with its backs against a wall. The outworked the WolfPack in taking the next two sets with some memorable points that will long live in program lexicon.

"If you just pick the match for sheer entertainment, it had it all," said Briggs. "Who's ever going to forget Jocelyn doing the leapfrog over the chairs to make a save. That came out of nowhere. Or Mariah (Bereziuk) – that was one of the best straight-down hits off of somebody's head (I've ever seen). There were some amazing moments in that game."

Mariah Bereziuk smashes the ball off of Anastasiia Muzyka's head for one of the craziest points of the match (Eduardo Perez photo).

Grimm chalks up the wild and crazy ride to the nerves of two teams trying to reach the next stage in their respective programs' development.

"It's a sport of momentum, but I think you saw two teams – one that's in the playoffs for the first time and we've been there, but this is the first time we've won a playoff series, so that starts to weigh on your mind," he said. "As much as you don't want it to creep in, I think it's hard for them until they've been through it. In that sense, there wasn't a surprise there were lots of runs.

"We knew they were going to come back. They're tough, they've played resilient all year. Ken's done a great job with this crew getting them to where they were. It was definitely a battle."

Kendra Finch led the WolfPack with 12 kills and 18 digs, while Olga Savenchuk caused MacEwan all kinds of trouble from the service line with two aces, while blitzing them at the net with 11 kills, several of the floor-denting variety. Both Kseniya Kocyigit and Anastasiia Muzyka had seven blocks.

Hailey Cornelis led the Griffins with 10 kills, while Haley Gilfillan's strong serving (three aces) and Mckenna Stevenson's play at the net (11 blocks) gave the Griffins a chance. All three played the final match of their MacEwan careers.

"It's been a great year," said Briggs. "We're going to regret it later because you only get so many kicks at the can. This team's special because they set a new standard.

"When it's all said and done, the first couple of sets it was 'oh my goodness' and then they made me proud," he added. "They'll remember this for the rest of their life. The people who are returning, they understand what's at stake now and what it takes."

Haley Gilfillan goes up for a smash on Friday night. She played a terrific match in the swansong of her MacEwan Griffins career (Eduardo Perez photo).