Dryden still spikers’ nemesis

There currently are two classes of volleyball in Northwestern Ontario: Dryden and everybody else.
The Eagles and Dryden’s club team—the Whiskey Jacks—re-staked their city’s claim to the region’s volleyball crown by winning both the ‘A’ and ‘B’ titles at the junior volleyball tournament hosted by the Kenora Broncos over the weekend.
In both cases, the Muskies got to witness Dryden’s dominance firsthand.
Fort High had split its team into two squads—Muskie “Gold” and Muskie “Black”—to compete in Kenora, and both squads ultimately were ousted from the tournament by Dryden teams.
The “Gold” team lost 25-19 and 25-10 in the best-of-three ‘A’-side semi-finals to the Dryden Eagles’ “Gold” squad (Dryden having split its team into two squads for the tournament, as well).
Meanwhile, the Muskie “Black” squad lost in straight sets to the Whiskey Jacks in the ‘B’ final (set scores were not available as of press time last night).
Despite the losses, Muskie head coach Jeff Rajala believes his team is making strides towards eventually knocking Dryden from its perch.
“We still struggle against Dryden, but we are closing the gap—regardless of what the scores may indicate,” he remarked. “The biggest opponent for the Muskies is their own confidence.”
“When they [the players] are up, they are tough to beat,” he added. “When they are down, they beat themselves.”
The Muskie “Gold” squad got off to a strong start, dropping just one set en route to finishing atop their pool in the initial round-robin portion of the tournament.
After splitting with the Broncos (25-16/16-25) in their opening match, the Muskie “Gold” squad swept Whitefish Bay (25-13/25-10), Churchill Gray (25-13/25-17), and the Whiskey Jacks (25-23/25-22).
The team then was re-seeded for the second portion of round-robin play.
Again, the Muskie “Gold” team started slowly, splitting their opening match by scores of 19-25, 25-16 against the Sioux Lookout Warriors. But they recovered in their second match by beating the Broncos’ “Blue” squad 25-21, 25-19.
Their showing in the second portion of the round-robin set up a showdown with the Dryden “Gold” squad in the ‘A’ semi-finals—which they lost.
“I was frustrated with the final set against Dryden,” Rajala admitted. “After losing the first set by just six points, dropping the second set by 15 was a shock.
“However, I had a grin on my face at the end of it all because the girls fought through some bad play and ultimately succeeded,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Muskie “Black” team swept the St. Thomas Aquinas Saints’ “White” squad by scores of 25-5 and 25-15 in their opening round-robin match.
They lost their next match in straight sets (18-25/16-25) to the Eagles’ “Gold” squad before wrapping up the opening round with wins over the Sioux Lookout Warriors (25-16/25-16) and Hammarskjold Vikings of Thunder Bay (25-14/25-13).
Following the re-seeding of the teams for the second portion of the round-robin, the Muskie “Black” squad defeated the Broncos’ “White” team by scores of 25-18 and 25-11 before losing to the Eagles’ “Blue” squad (8-25/21-25).
The “Black” squad earned a bye into the ‘B’ side final by virtue of point differential, where they faced the Whiskey Jacks and ultimately were defeated.
“By the end of the tournament, they ran out of steam and could not finish it,” Rajala said of the “Black” team’s performance.
“They fought well and made the Jacks earn their medals,” he added.
Shelly Gustafson acted as coach for the Muskie “Black” team.