Thriving in switch back to natural left side position, Frith leads Griffins into home series vs. MRU
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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25 | 19 | 18 | 23 | 1 |
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20 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
Team Stats
Mount Royal University
| Game Statistics | Mount Royal University | MacEwan University |
|---|---|---|
| Hitting % | .172 | .245 |
| Blocks | 8.0 | 10.0 |
| Digs | 40 | 31 |
| Aces | 5 | 8 |
Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – The definition of a good teammate is doing everything one can to help the collective goal.
For Kara Frith, that meant agreeing wholeheartedly when new Griffins women's volleyball head coach Chris Wandler wanted to move her to middle blocker early in the 2023-24 season.
Yes, she'd played the position before in club, but she much preferred the outside and was recruited as such.
"Ken (Briggs, former head coach) recruited her as an outside hitter and then because of necessity in my first year (we made the switch) because we had a middle blocker go down. She had some experience playing middle in club and she's super athletic.
"She was very flexible with her mindset to make an impact with the team in 2023-24 and played a big role in us making the playoffs that year."
The 6-foot-1 Frith was so good at middle, that it was a jolting change to see her suddenly on the outside, which happened midway through last season (a switch again made because of an injury).
Now it seems like she's never been anything else.
Frith is a natural on the left side of the Griffins' attack and currently leads the team with 71 kills through 22 sets over six matches. Her 3.23 kills/set average is seventh-best in Canada West.
She'll lead the Griffins into weekend action vs. Mount Royal University (Friday, 5 p.m. and Saturday, 3 p.m., both David Atkinson Gym, Canada West TV).
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"I was always wanting to go back," said Frith. "Middle's OK, but you don't get to pass or anything, so I was happy for the change.
"It feels really good," she added. "Coming from a middle who's not supposed to pass, I just feel like my serve-receive has been really good. It's built my confidence to become a better hitter, if that makes sense."
Kara Frith with authority from the left side!@MacEwanGriffins dead even with @GoTRUWolfPack in the first set.#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/R24nqJYU77
— GriffinsWVB (@GriffinsWVB) October 24, 2025
Frith's two-way ability is also reflected in her digs totals – 49, which is second on the Griffins behind libero Kaitlin Rolph (59).
"She's super dynamic, she jumps well, she passes the ball very well," said Wandler. "Her overall ability as an athlete and volleyball player is quite high. We really like what she's been doing for us."
Frith comes out of St. Joseph's in Grande Prairie, where she helped her team win a 3A provincial bronze medal in Grade 10. She built a connection with current Griffins teammates Payton Shimoda and Arden Butler on Team Alberta prior to coming to MacEwan.
Despite some notable high school accomplishments, Frith admits her confidence level wasn't overly high during her first couple of seasons at MacEwan (2021-23) when she was a rarely used bench substitute.
"I feel like my self-confidence was not great at all, my first year for sure," she said. "It's become better. I think that just comes with practice, too, and a coaching change."
Now in her final season, Frith has become a go-to player on a Griffins team trying to return to the Canada West playoffs. They're off to a slow start in that pursuit, currently 1-5 through their first six games. Most recently, they're coming off of back-to-back losses at UBC Okanagan last weekend.
Kara Frith's strong two-way game, which includes 49 digs (second on the Griffins) is huge for the Griffins (Husain Dhooma photo).
"Our first set on Saturday, it felt really good," said Frith of MacEwan's 25-19 win before dropping three straight to lose the match. "Everyone was confident and we were serving aggressively to the other team, so they weren't really able to put anything back on us. But the second set, we just stopped serving aggressively. We missed serves … and that was the main thing. Just putting balls down in the right situations.
"I definitely think we can beat MRU this weekend," she added. "It's all mindset. We've been practising really well this week and showing up."
Wandler also expects a good bounce-back performance this weekend.
"I think we had a really good response Saturday night vs. UBCO, it just didn't last," he said. "I think we got outside that focused mindset and let ourselves wander a little bit – let things creep in – that took us away from what we were doing in that first set on Saturday. We played very well.
"I think we've learned we can't let those feelings and emotions creep in. We have to keep those to the perimeter. I think we're learning that and I'm expecting a really good response from us on the weekend."
