Falcons swoop past Muskies

The tears on the Muskie faces after the match told the story.
In a gruelling best-of-three showdown with the St. Ignatius Falcons here, it was the visitors who were jumping for joy Saturday after winning NWOSSAA gold and a trip to the all-Ontarios in Ottawa this week.
No one could blame either side for their emotional outbursts after the final match, which lasted more than two hours. Both teams arguably played their most intense volleyball of the year.
“I thought they did,” Muskie head coach Rick Wiedenhoeft said of his players. “I was very pleased with their effort. I thought they showed determination, courage, and intensity.”
All the way through the Muskies’ starting lineup (from setter Laureen Cousineau to Kelly Crawford, Siobhan Devlin, Chrissie Thomson, Heather Mihichuk, and Sarah Vanderplaats), the black-and-gold played their hearts out–leaving everything they had on the court by the time the final point was scored.
The Muskies, who had breezed through the NorWOSSA final against Kenora, found themselves up against a very talented–and much taller–squad from Thunder Bay.
The Falcons dominated the net most of the weekend, making it difficult for the Muskies to get their hits past St. Ignatius’ blockers.
“It was just hard, they were all six feet or taller,” a visibly disappointed Cousineau said after the match. “It was tough to block their height.”
Wiedenhoeft agreed St. Ignatius’ height was the difference.
“I think it was because we had to go to a high-ball attack, and when you do that, you give them an opportunity to get their big blocks up,” he noted.
Still, the Muskies battled right to the bitter end before losing to the Falcons in four games in the final best-of-five match of the best-of-three series.
The Muskies had won the first game 25-22 (which was close all the way to the final point) but then lost the next three 25-18, 25-13, and 25-17 to give St. Ignatius the NWOSSAA crown.
The Falcons, much like they did throughout the series, relied on the powerful hitting of Laura Silversides, a regional team player, and the defensive play of Dana DiCasmirro and Sarah Sloan.
“She hits the ball as hard as any high school girl I’ve ever seen,” Wiedenhoeft said of Silversides.
< *c>Draining victory
The Muskies had forced the third and deciding match after winning the second one in a five-game battle earlier Saturday. And it was just as draining–physically and emotionally.
In fact, it took more than 30 minutes for the Muskies to edge the Falcons 32-30 in the first game, capped off by a strong hit at the net by Marsha Walsh (who played extremely well all weekend coming off the bench).
Then the tables turned, with St. Ignatius winning the next two games 25-23 and 25-22 to creep to within one victory of the NWOSSAA title. But the Muskies wouldn’t roll over–taking the fourth game 25-18 and then winning the deciding one 15-11 to force the rubber match.
The opening match Friday afternoon also went the full five games, only this time it was St. Ignatius who eked out the victory.
After the Falcons took the first game 25-19, the Muskies fought back to win the next one 25-17. The teams then split the next two–St. Ignatius winning 25-14 and the black-and-gold prevailing 25-16.
In the fifth and deciding game, the Muskies pulled to within 8-7 at one point but the Falcons put the match away with seven-straight points.