Griffins players celebrate after beating Mount Royal 3-1 on Friday night (Husain Dhooma photo).
Griffins players celebrate after beating Mount Royal 3-1 on Friday night (Husain Dhooma photo).
November 15, 2025

Sparked by von Krosigk, making her first start, Griffins roll to huge 3-1 win over Mount Royal

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Jason Hills 
For MacEwan Athletics 
 
EDMONTON – When a team is struggling to find its way, sometimes you just need a little spark. 

New Griffins outside hitter Anna von Krosigk provided a lot of energy in her first career Canada West start, and they snapped their four-game losing streak with a four-set (20-25, 25-19, 25-18, 25-23) win over the Mount Royal Cougars on Friday night at the David Atkinson Gym. 

Kara Frith earned a career-high 18 kills on a solid .368 hitting percentage and five digs, while Alyshia Bryks recorded 12 kills and six digs, and von Krosigk chipped in with six kills, one ace and three digs. 

Payton Shimoda recorded 38 assists as the Griffins improved to 2-5, while Mount Royal fell to 2-3. 

"She stabilized our passing for us, and that really helped Payton execute the offence and allow Alyshia to go off for 12 (kills), and Kara to go off for 18," said Griffins head coach Chris Wandler. 

"I thought our middle blocker chipped in well, and I thought Anna did a remarkable job, and did not let her first U SPORTS start to get to her." 

It was a rough start for the Griffins in the opening set. They struggled to find their footing offensively, and the Cougars offence was rolling without MacEwan able to find an answer. 

They fell behind 6-2 early, and then after a kill from Anika Buys cut into MRU's lead to 15-11, the Cougars rattled off a 4-0 run to take a 19-11 lead after an ace from Aurora Bentrim. 

And while the Griffins didn't win the opening set, they didn't back down and put up a strong fight to close the gap nicely. 

An ace from Shimoda made it 23-16. A kill from Bryks made it 23-17, and MacEwan scored a nice point on a big block from Buys to make it 24-20. 

Anna von Krosigk made her first career Canada West start after transferring to MacEwan from Douglas College this season (Husain Dhooma photo).

While they fell 25-20 in the opening set, they carried that late momentum the rest of the way. 

"Our captain Payton carried a lot of that momentum through for us, and our team just took it to heart, and we kept pushing through, even though we were down in that first set," said Buys, who recorded five kills and was a force defensively for the Griffins in the win. 

"We turned it around and carried that momentum over the rest of the way, and we left it all on the court. I'm proud of our effort." 

The Griffins were energized and played with purpose, and some of the things that were bringing their game down in recent weeks started coming together. 

The energy they played with was felt throughout the lineup, and they led the entire second set. 

In the third set, they virtually led the entire way, only trailing MRU 1-0, and they had contributions up and down their lineup. 

Frith and Bryks combined for eight kills, as Shimoda spread the ball around nicely. 

Ella Graves came in as a serving sub, and helped the Griffins got on a small run, including serving up her first-career ace to give MacEwan a 20-16 lead. 

"We've been talking all week about playing moment by moment, and we need you to do what the moment asks you to do. Whether it's going for the kill or taking a breath before a serve," said Wandler. 

"Certain parts of the game ask for certain moments of you, and I thought we did a really good job of executing those moments tonight." 

Now on their heels, Mount Royal pushed hard in the fourth set, as they tried to wrestle momentum away from MacEwan. 

Mya Morgan and Faith Obasi led MRU with 10 kills each in the loss, while Sydney Scatcherd chipped in with nine. 

MRU jumped out to a slim early lead, but a kill from von Kosigk and an ace from Bryks regained the lead to 8-7 for MacEwan. 

The Cougars only held one other lead in the fourth set (10-9), and while they tied the set multiple times down the stretch, the Griffins never relinquished the lead to earn their first win on home court this season. 

"There was a switch on our team. We've had a lot of discussions about what we want to change and what we want to be, and not focusing on the other team," said Buys. 

"We've been putting in a lot of individual effort, putting in that extra work and keying on things we need to work on." 

The win will no doubt be a confidence boost for MacEwan, but also with how they earned the victory will go a long way, too. 

Veterans stepped up, and so did rookies and role players. They all played a big part in the win. 

"We progressively got better as the match wore on. Our offence started to flow. Our middle blockers did a hell of a job in transition and created space for our outside," said Wandler. 

"Ella (Graves) in the third set got us on that serving run and a big shout out to Ella Black too. She went in when we were having a hard time on the serve-receive and really stabilized us going into that second set. 

"We have an older group, and they didn't let the moment dictate their response. They did what the moment asked of them. Our veterans were a real presence on the court." 

MacEwan will wrap up their weekend series on Saturday against Mount Royal at 3 p.m. MT (Canada West TV).