Playing solid volleyball, Griffins primed to face UFV in a playoff series for second time in three seasons

Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics

EDMONTON – On a roller-coaster night of emotions last Friday, the Griffins women's volleyball team dropped a hard-fought match to the Alberta Pandas at the Saville Centre before finding out not long after that they'd clinched a playoff spot anyway.

Immediately after the loss, setter Payton Shimoda recalled, they went to find out how UBC Okanagan was doing against UBC.

"We ran to our parents on the side, and they had both games on simultaneously because they knew what that game meant to us," said the Griffins' captain about her team clinching when the Heat lost. "It was disappointing to lose that game, but also we accomplished our main goal (to make the playoffs)."

A day after booking their spot, the Griffins – who finished the season 7-13 in 10^th place – found out on Saturday they'd be facing the No. 7 UFV Cascades (10-10) in a best-of-three Canada West Play-In series set for Friday (7 p.m. MT), Saturday (7 p.m. MT) and Sunday, if necessary, (4 p.m. MT, all in Abbotsford, B.C. on Canada West TV).

Ironically, of all the opponents they could be matched up with, it's the very team they faced two years ago in the opening round. Both teams were seeded higher then (3 UFV vs. 6 MacEwan) and several impact players have graduated from both sides, but enough similarities remain that the Griffins can certainly draw on the experience, even if they lost both matches 3-1 that weekend.

"I feel like they have a lot of similar players as last time, so I feel we can build off that," said Shimoda. "But they're also missing some stars. We have different team this time and I feel like we match up well."

UFV still has nine players who were also on that roster for the 2024 playoffs, while MacEwan has five. However, the Griffins have more starters left (four compared to three).

Both teams had dynamic impact stars that season who both made the U SPORTS second team all-star team – Mariah Bereziuk for MacEwan and Gabrielle Attieh for UFV – but neither is still playing university.

Now, the team's attacks are more diversified with UFV led by Talia Attieh (228 kills), Lauren Attieh (214 kills) and Mandi Feist (206 kills), while MacEwan has two plus-200 kills players – Kara Frith (231) and Alyshia Bryks (225). 

Kara Frith serves during MacEwan's playoff matches at UFV in 2024. She's one of five Griffins players still on the roster from that series (Jordie Arthur photo).

Both setters are in their final season and were among the best in Canada West – Shimoda (625 assists) and Cailin Bitter (639).

Head coach Chris Wandler feels the biggest difference, though, for his squad is pure playoff seasoning. In 2024, the Griffins were returning to the dance for the first time in four years with almost a completely new group, but his veterans know all about it now.

"Obviously, we're older and we're more experienced than we were a couple years ago," he said. "We've played some really good volleyball the last bit, even though we haven't gotten the result. We've played against some really good teams, and we've played through tons of adversity. I think we're going to see a lot of adversity in a playoff run, and we just know how to deal with it. That's a big difference between this year's group and two years ago.

"We just know how to deal with our emotions a whole heck of a lot better."

They're also battle-tested with some seriously tough matchups down the stretch, including last weekend when they went toe-to-toe and competed well against U SPORTS No. 1 Alberta, even if the scores were 3-0 and 3-0.

"I thought we were quite strong," said Shimoda, who improved her program-record career regular season assists total to 2,769, 17^th in Canada West history. "Our serve-pass game was looking really solid, which is something we really dialled into. The Pandas really primed us in those specific areas to dial in, so I feel like we're in good shape."

Alyshia Bryks was second on the Griffins with 225 kills this season (Husain Dhooma photo).

Bryks was very solid last weekend against Alberta, often taking it to the Pandas, not intimidated by their lofty national ranking. That moxie will be needed this weekend, too.

"I think when we play with confidence and we're having fun, when we really want it, that's when we play our best," said Bryks.

MacEwan's passing and defensive play was their calling card last weekend, which will be something they'll lean into against UFV as well.

"I think it will take a lot of grit – some really scrappy defence on our part," said Shimoda. "Just being willing to hang in on long rallies and just being persistent."

And the Griffins' serving will be key. They missed a few too many from the baseline against Alberta and will need to be dialled in against a UFV team that thrives when they're in system.

"UFV has three really solid outside attackers and that's definitely a similarity (to the Pandas)," said Wandler. "UFV plays very complementary to what they have. They play a good outside hitting game and chip away with their middle blockers here and there. We're going to need to serve the ball really well and keep them out of system. 

"We just need to play how we've been playing," added Wandler. "I liked our passing game, I liked our defending game (last weekend). I think we're playing a really good level of volleyball coming into the most important weekend of the year so far."