Matt Packwood, Brandon University Athletics

BRANDON, Man. – The Brandon Bobcats stunned the MacEwan Griffins and ended their season in the process with a 3-1 (14-25, 25-14, 25-16, 25-21) win on Saturday evening.

The loss drops MacEwan's record to 12-12 and into a three-way tie for seventh. According to the tiebreaker, MacEwan finishes ninth in conference standings according to sets won/lost, so the Griffins end the season on the outside of the playoff picture.

Sami Love's ace in the fourth set iced the match and the emotional day for the Bobcats, specifically fifth-year captain Nikala Majewski who was recognized following the match for her outstanding five-year career in the Canada West conference.

"It was instant tears. It's been a good five years," said Majewski following the match, fighting back more tears.

Majewski finishes her career with 1,234 kills, good for the Brandon University school all-time women's volleyball record and fourth all-time in Canada West history.

"I was trying not think about it all day and I kept get texts and calls all day. It was really emotional,"

After being shut out in the first set, largely due to the outstanding defensive play of Rachel Jorvina, Majewski found her groove in the remaining sets to end the match with 14 kills.

"She just had my number early in the match. I'm just really happy we won. It's always so much better to end on a win even if it doesn't mean anything in literal paper and standings and stuff. To us, and to me and the team, and to Lee it meant a lot more than what it meant in the standings." 

Jorvina reflected on her team's performance following the match rather than her own individual accomplishment.

"We've come miles since last year, leaps and bounds in terms of our record, and we're just going to keep building,

"The Bobcats they played outstanding. They were just loose the whole time and it felt like they were playing without any pressure and we were."

Jorvina's 26 digs were a match high, followed by Carly Weber and Kylie Schubert who each finished with 11 while Hailey Cornelis had 10. 

MacEwan was led offensively by Lauren Holmes' 13 kills while Brandon was led by Majewski's 14. Michelle Egger contributed 10 kills for the Bobcats to go with a team-high 19 digs.

The Griffins end the regular season with a record of 12-12 while the Bobcats finish at 5-19.

Photo courtesy Milana Paddock