Joey Payeur
They just missed the podium but their coach still came away beaming with pride.
The Fort Frances Fire ‘n Ice Royals fell 2-0 (set scores unavailable at press time) to Cats Blue of Winnipeg in the bronze-medal game of the Volleyball Manitoba 14U Girls Tier 2 provincial championship there over the weekend.
Coach Bob Kowal’s squad had a good run to finish second in Pool ‘A’ with a 3-1 record before losing the semi-final to Cats South 2-0 (25-19/25-20) and then the battle for bronze.
“The girls were very disappointed with their final results but should be proud of their effort and their development,” lauded Kowal.
“The calibre of play for the girls was extremely high for their age group,” he added.
“It may have been the best Grade 7-8 age volleyball I have coached.”
The Royals seemed to have the Cats Blue’s number coming into the match, having beat the squad at an earlier tournament this year and then 2-0 during round-robin action in Pool ‘A.’
“They really wanted to win,” Kowal said about Cats Blue.
“We took early leads in both sets, but a couple of players had the yips and struggled to get their game on track,” he noted.
The semi-final saw the Royals and Cats South tied at 18-18 in the first set before being unable to close things out.
“The girls were playing very well, but we were having an issue with putting the ball away,” Kowal said.
“Lots of recycling but the girls were reluctant to swing hard.
“A small passing glitch cost the girls four points from which they never recovered,” he added.
Kowal said the team got off to a slower start in the second set but kept the game close at the halfway point, only to have another power outage.
“Lots of recycling of the ball but not enough offence,” he remarked.
“Again, one small passing glitch and they were done for the semis.
“The games were intense and the girls were quite frazzled they had lost,” Kowal said.
“I don’t think we recovered mentally from that game going forward.”
The Royals’ other wins in pool play came in 2-0 sweeps against Pirates Blue (25-18/25-15) and Parkland Vipers 13U (25-11/25-13).
But its only loss to Neepawa Smash by a 2-1 count (25-16, 21-25, and 15-12) had them settling for second place.
In the quarter-finals, the Royals played impressively to defeat WinMan Power 2-0 (25-18/25-12).
“There were definite nerves but they persevered,” Kowal said.
Fort Frances Fire ‘n Ice Blue had a more difficult march through the provincials, though, eventually losing 2-1 (25-20, 20-25, and 15-9) to the Vipers in the consolation bracket to end up last in the nine-team field.
“The girls put into place many of the skills they had learned through the coaching of [Kowal],” said Rachelle Yeo, who took the reins from him for the Blue crew to resolve any scheduling problems that had the Royals and Blue playing simultaneously.
“In the end, they won one game and that gave them a good confidence boost,” she noted.
“I am sure they came away with a new outlook on volleyball.
“They had a positive attitude and a willingness to learn and grow from this experience, and I’m proud to have been their coach this weekend,” Yeo added.
The Blue rallied against WinMan Power to win 2-1 (22-25, 25-22, and 15-11) in their lone success in Pool ‘B’ while also losing 2-0 to Cats South (25-11/25-20) and Parkland Vipers West (25-16/25-10).
The latter loss proved crucial to the Blue’s final position in the pool as they wound up tied with WinMan Power and Vipers West at 1-2.
In the tie-breaker formula, WinMan Power took second (3-2 sets record), Vipers West third (3-3), and the Blue fourth (2-3).
That put the Blue bunch against the Vipers’ 13U squad in the first round of the championship bracket playoffs, which saw the Vipers prevail 2-1 (25-17, 20-25, and 15-12).
The locals then lost 2-0 (25-19/25-23) to Pirates Blue in their first consolation round matchup before being ousted for good by the Vipers’ 13U squad.
“Fire ‘n Ice Blue played hard all weekend, but found different ways to let games slip away from them,” noted Kowal.
“They played two very close playoff matches that went to three sets, only to find themselves on the wrong end of the scoresheet.
“Inexplicably, it was the strengths of the team that seemed to be their downfall in these very close matches,” he added.
“The team is usually excellent passers and servers, but those two skills seemed to hurt them at the most inopportune time.
“The girls did play hard and although they finished last, they did win a match at a provincial championship and probably should have finished with a few more under their belt,” Kowal said.
A four-team mini-tournament involving the two Fire ‘n Ice squads, plus Fire ‘n Ice D and the Dryden Whiskey Jacks, will be held Saturday at Fort High beginning at 9 a.m.
