Opening weekend was finally here this past weekend for the MacEwan men’s volleyball team as they hosted the Winnipeg Wesmen in Atkinson Gymnasium. After falling 3-1 (25-19, 21-25, 22-25, 19-25) on Friday, the Griffins looked to bounce back Saturday. Early on during the first set, the Griffins took the momentum as captain Jefferson Morrow was all over the court willing points on the board for the Griffins as they took a 16-13 lead. 

The Wesmen wouldn’t back down. They battled back to take a 22-24 lead at match point. MacEwan clawed back with three straight points to take a 25-24 lead before falling 27-29 in the first set. The Griffins jumped out to an early three point lead thanks to a spark off the bench from second year player, Aidan McLennan, as well as a delayed call for Wesmen playing the ball illegally. However, once again the visiting Wesmen rallied back, leading to a 25-25 tie. The Griffins didn’t get another point in the set, and the Wesmen took the second set 27-25.

In the crucial third set, MacEwan once again took an early lead thanks to the calm demeanor and leadership from captain Jefferson Morrow. His attitude was contagious as the team was able to limit the mistakes and play dominant volleyball. But, just like they had all night, the Winnipeg Wesmen played just well enough to hang around and eventually took their first lead of the set at 24-25. The Griffins didn’t go down so easily, but eventually fell to the Wesmen 27-29. The Wesmen took the match 3-0 (27-29, 25-27, 27-29). The Griffins fell to 0-2 for the year as they weren’t able to capitalize on early leads in all three sets. 

MacEwan looks to finally break through next weekend, when they travel to Saskatoon to take on the University of Saskatchewan on Friday, Oct. 28 and Saturday, Oct.29. 

The Griffins won’t be back in the Atkinson Gymnasium until they welcome the University of Calgary to town on Nov. 18 and 19.