Griffins players celebrate a point against Saskatchewan on Saturday (Husain Dhooma photo).
Griffins players celebrate a point against Saskatchewan on Saturday (Husain Dhooma photo).
November 30, 2025

Griffins prevail over Huskies in thrilling five-set victory borne out of total team effort

Program Tickets Box Score

Jason Hills
For MacEwan Athletics

EDMONTON — It was another gutsy, gritty and all-out effort by the MacEwan women's volleyball team — but this time they were rewarded.

One night after suffering a five-set heartbreaking defeat at the hands of Saskatchewan, they turned the tables and came through with a thrilling five-set (25-16, 21-25, 18-25, 25-18, 15-13) victory over the Huskies on Saturday night at the David Atkinson gym.

"I would say every single person who touched the court (today) played a huge role and did their job and worked their butt off. We worked really well as a group. We made some small adjustments from yesterday, and I thought they made big differences," said Griffins captain Payton Shimoda, who recorded 39 assists, three kills, three aces and a block as the Griffins improved to 4-6 this season.

"In the end, Chris (Wandler) said the team that's going to win this fifth set is the one who has the most heart and gives it the most, I felt like that rang true in that last set."

Kara Frith led MacEwan with 16 kills, 13 digs, while Alyshia Bryks chipped in with 11 kills, seven digs and one service ace in the victory.

Defensively, the Griffins were outstanding, recording 15 team blocks and Anika Buys led the way with three solo blocks. She also chipped in with seven kills and finished with 14.5 points.

The Huskies, who fell to 8-4 this season were led by Rosetta Cyr's 18 kills, seven digs and two blocks, while Taryn Hannah and Keely Anderson had 13 and 12 kills, respectively. 

Playing in front of a raucous crowd, led by a large group of student-athletes from the Griffins men's and women's hockey and basketball teams, who were all on a bye-week, MacEwan came out firing in the opening set.

Shimoda did a great job of spreading the offence around, as the Griffins recorded 14 kills, and they only had two attack errors in the opening set.

With the Huskies keeping it close in the opening set, Buys came up with a big block to make it 14-11, and that started a strong run by the Griffins. A bullet-like kill from Frith down the pipe gave the Griffins a commanding 24-14 lead, and they dominated the opening set.

"We had a lot more balance," said Griffins head coach Chris Wandler.

"We passed the ball a lot better than we did (Friday). Last night we weren't in system enough and we didn't get Anika and Alana in the offence enough because of that."

The Huskies stormed back and had a nice comeback in the second set after the Griffins were in control for a good portion of the set, but a 7-2 run by Saskatchewan allowed them to tie the match 1-1 with a 25-21 win.

The Griffins had a tough go in the third set. They fell behind early, and weren't able to get much going throughout the majority of the set, but they didn't let it bring them down and let the game get away from them.

Back-to-back kills early in the fourth set by Frith gave MacEwan a lead, and while it was tight for a good stretch of points, the Griffins went on a 7-1 run that was capped off by an ace from Buys.

Later in the set, a huge dig by Frith resulted in a point for MacEwan giving them a 21-14 lead and momentum was clearly back in their corner.

"Once we got our composure back, we said enough is enough. Let's battle towards getting our game back for the fourth set. It's a long match, there's lots of time, and we did a good job of re-balancing ourselves and we played well in that fourth set," said Wandler. 

In the fifth set, both teams didn't back down. Saskatchewan held a 7-6 lead at the side change.

A big kill from Alana Murr tied the set at 8-8, and then Frith came through with a monster block to give the Griffins a 9-8 lead that they wouldn't relinquish, despite the big push from the Huskies.

"I thought we did a really good job with our will to keep fighting in the fifth set. I just felt we weren't going to be denied. We played with composure and aggression when it was needed, and we did a marvellous job rebounding after that third (set)," said Wandler.

It was an impressive victory for MacEwan, who wrapped up their first semester schedule with the victory. On Saturday, they showed a ton of composure, despite falling behind 2-1, and they played with a ton of energy and fight.

"We can give credit to our other athletics teams that were here. We totally drew energy from them," said Shimoda.

"A big thank you to them, and a reason why today was a success."

With the victory, MacEwan is now 4-6 and has moved up to ninth in the conference, while Saskatchewan falls back to 8-4 and sits fourth.