Joey Payeur
For the second time in eight days, the volleyball court in the big gym at Fort High was the scene of jubilation.
The Muskie senior girls’ volleyball team earned their second trip to OFSAA in the past three seasons by sweeping the Thunder Bay champion Westgate Tigers 2-0 in the best-of-three NWOSSAA final here.
The black-and-gold pulled off an unbelievable comeback in the first set to kickstart Friday’s 3-0 victory (26-24, 25-16, and 25-20).
Then they bounced back from losing the opening set Saturday morning to grab a 3-1 victory (22-25, 26-25, 25-21, and 25-22).
“It’s incredibly special to win it in the ‘Fish Tank,'” enthused Muskie co-coach Amy Wilson-Hands, whose squad claimed the NorWOSSA title Feb. 17 by ending the Dryden Eagles’ 15-year grasp on it.
“The fact they got so close to winning NorWOSSA last year gave them the hunger to win NorWOSSA, NWOSSAA, and to go all the way to the all-Ontarios,” she added.
Now it’s off to Belleville for the OFSAA ‘AA’ championship March 6-8.
But it was a different story for the Muskie senior boys’ basketball team, who were routed 75-25 on Friday and then 81-33 on Saturday by the St. Ignatius Falcons at the NWOSSAA championship in Thunder Bay.
St. Ignatius went undefeated during the regular season and playoffs in Thunder Bay, and showed why in dumping the two-time defending NorWOSSA champion Muskies at NWOSSAA for the second-straight year.
Jared Kreiner led the Falcons’ attack–scoring a game-high 23 points both Friday and Saturday.
Aaron Bujold led the Muskies in scoring both days with 10 points in the opening game and nine in Game 2.
The Falcons now advance to the OFSAA ‘AA’ championship March 6-8 in Sault Ste. Marie.
