More injuries force Griffins to play players out of position in tough 3-0 loss to Winnipeg

WINNIPEG, Man. – In all his years playing and coaching, Brad Poplawski has never ever seen an injury bug bite like this.

On Friday, after two more unfortunate injuries to mainstays in the lineup, he was down to only one starter who began the season for him … and he was playing out of position.

Middle Spencer Loucks was moved to the outside and responded well, leading the Griffins with eight kills, but all of it was too much for MacEwan to overcome after losing captain Seth Birkholz and kills leader Fabian Breitenbach to injuries mid match in a 3-0 defeat to the Winnipeg Wesmen (25-13, 25-13, 25-17).

"I legitimately had one player on the floor who was a starter at the beginning of the year for us," said Poplawski. "I don't even know what to do. I had guys playing out of position. Our best player was Spencer Loucks and he played right side. He had a great night for us, but it's not even fair to him. I said to him after the game, 'this is not the position we trained, but it's been a necessity.' He was really good, which was nice to see."

The Griffins were also without emotional leader Brendon Lord, who was injured during the semester break, and are still without starting left side Jarod Robert and starting libero Austin Ly. Daylan Laszlo, who missed much of the first semester with an injury suffered at the hands of Thompson Rivers when a player recklessly came under the net, had five kills in his first action since October.

All of it has forced young players into the lineup who are very green to be playing so many minutes at the Canada West level.

"I know they're trying," said Poplawski. "My only hope is they're learning from it and it's not crushing their confidence because we're obviously struggling. They've been put in position they're either not ready for or haven't played. I hope they can use it to motivate themselves and learn, and be better for it later in their career, but right now it's a challenge."

Newcomer Keegan Hanrahan saw his first Canada West action since playing for UFV in 2021-22, replacing Birkholz in the middle for the final two sets, finishing with two kills.

"With the injury to Seth, he got a chance to get out there," said Poplawski. "He got his first kill, which was nice to see. Same thing for him, he hasn't played at this level in a long time, so just trying to get him up to speed. He works hard, he's a good athlete, so I was happy he got an opportunity tonight. Obviously going forward, he'll have more opportunity as well."