The MacEwan University Griffins continue to make progress in their Canada West transition, but remain winless dropping a 3-1 (25-21, 25-21, 21-25, 25-19) match to the Brandon Bobcats on Halloween night in Edmonton.

The Bobcats stormed out of the gate to take the opening set 25-21, highlighted by a trio of key blocks by Sam Tuivai. Despite making four service errors, the Bobcats were able to hold off the surging Griffins in the late stages of the set.

The second set strongly resembled the first, as both teams were content to exchanged points early.  Despite another seven service errors in the slow paced set, the Bobcats prevailed with a set score of 25-21.

The tides changed in the third, as the Griffins stepped up their serving game, forcing the Bobcats passers into uncomfortable positions. Another notable third set alteration for the Griffins was moving Zach Brown, a regular outside hitter, back to his familiar position after assuming libero duties for the first two sets. With more consistent and targeted serves and the lineup change, the Griffins were able to pull away late, forcing a fourth set with the 25-21 victory.

But the Bobcats would not be denied in their first of the two meetings between the teams this weekend, as they pulled away late to post a 25-19 fourth set score to earn the 3-1 victory. Setter David Stasica turned in an impressive performance for the Bobcats dishing out 42 assists on the strength of a solid middle attack, including the combined 16 kills courtesy of Frank Jones and Brendan White.

Zach Brown finished the match with five kills, eight digs and one block to earn Player of the Game honours for the Griffins, while Jones' statistical line was highlighted by 10 kills, three digs and two blocks to earn the honour for the Bobcats.

Teams will conclude their weekend series Saturday evening with the first whistles slated for 7:00 p.m.