Lucas Punkari
For the last seven seasons, the Dryden Eagles easily have been the class of the NorWOSSA junior girls’ volleyball ranks.
But that is no longer the case.
The Muskie spikers overthrew the Eagles’ reign—upsetting the defending champs in four sets (27-29, 25-20, 27-25, and 25-15) in the NorWOSSA final here last Wednesday afternoon.
“It’s really an impressive accomplishment,” Muskie head coach Jason Cain enthused afterwards.
“When myself, Amy Wilson-Hands, and Duane Roen came in here about four years ago, we realized right away that we needed to get a club team started here in Fort Frances as ever since Dryden started their club team, they have been winning ever since,” he noted.
“This season was the first year for us that we had all Grade 9’s and 10’s that came from the Vipers, and it really showed here today.”
The players were equally excited about their championship triumph.
“It’s pretty exciting, not only to win here on our home court but to also beat Dryden at the same time,” said Sarah Bagacki, a second-year player in Grade 10.
“It also means a lot to those of us who are back this year, as well, as we finished in third last season and we didn’t want that to happen to us again,” she added.
“As we started to pull away at the very end, it started to get a bit emotional for us on the bench and the court when we realized we could do it.”
The Muskies, who finished in second place during the regular season, jumped out to an early advantage in the opening set, but the Eagles clawed their way back and snatch the victory, showing why they have been so dominant in recent years.
But as the best-of-five match progressed, the Muskies slowly started to gain momentum—pulling ahead around the halfway point of the second set and then making a few crucial set-saving plays in the third to prevent Dryden from taking a 2-1 advantage.
“We knew going in that it was going to be a fight all the way through, but especially after that first set where they came right back and won,” Cain remarked.
“I just kept telling the girls that they will just have to go out there and keep the lead all the way through the sets, and when it came down to the fourth set, that’s exactly what they did.”
The Muskies were able to pull away in the fourth set partly because of their dominating performances in the serving department, with Bagacki and Celia Berry leading the way.
“Prior to our games today, we spent a lot of time working on our serving and that really paid off for us, along with our play in Thunder Bay [the previous] weekend, where we finished fifth in a field full of senior teams,” noted Berry, who also is in Grade 10.
“On our serves, we were just able to get the ball in there, and we just kept building the momentum all the way until the very end.”
The duo’s serving abilities also were a key difference in the semi-final game earlier Wednesday, when the Muskies swept aside the third-place Kenora Broncos in three sets (25-20, 25-7, and 25-9).
“In the second set, Sarah scored something like 16 points just based off of her serves, and in the third set Celia score 10 points and many of those were aces,” Cain recalled.
In addition to their performances, Cain also was quick to laud a couple of players who played key roles in the Muskies’ championship performance.
“Sierra Cousineau is a Grade 9 setter who we put on the court for the last three sets, and she really knows where to put the ball when she is out there,” Cain said.
“Carly Taggart had a couple off games at the end of the season, but right from the beginning I knew she was going to be a superstar and she really helped us out in the last couple of sets [last Wednesday],” he added.
But while the celebration erupted on the Muskies’ bench, the Eagles were left to ponder about the end of their dynasty, especially after they had a very strong regular season.
“We just lost our momentum, especially at the end of the game,” said Amy Knipping.
Prior to Wednesday’s title win, the Muskies had defeated the Eagles just once during the regular season, earning a five-set victory there back on Jan. 10.
