Both matches went down to the wire. And unfortunately for the Muskies, both ended with the black-and-gold having to settle for NorWOSSA silver medals last Thursday in Kenora.
The seniors opened the best-of-five match against the host Broncos with a 25-22 win. Then after losing the second game 25-21, the black-and-gold stormed back to take the third one 25-19.
But the squad couldn’t nail down that third win, and NorWOSSA gold, dropping the next two games 25-22 and 25-19 to give Kenora a berth in the NWOSSAA final against Thunder Bay.
“It was so much fun,” enthused Adrian Chapman, head coach for both Muskie volleyball squads. “We almost had it but [Kenora] got their momentum back.
“At first, I wasn’t sure [how they would do] but they pulled themselves out of the slump they have been in,” he added.
Dan Shankowsky, the athletic co-ordinator at Beaver Brae, said the seniors played an extremely good volleyball game.
“It was one hell of a volleyball match–it was some of the best volleyball I have seen in a long time,” he enthused. “I hope no one is hanging there heads. Someone had to lose but it could have gone either way.”
Even so, Chapman said it was a tough way for the seniors to end the season, noting he had been working with this core group of guys since grade 10.
“Next year it is all going to be new guys and we will have to start again but we will have a good team next year,” he remarked. “We will see how they do over the summer.”
Chapman also admitted losing hurts more when you know you could have–or should have–won.
“They are going to remember it for a long time. It was a fun year [but] that is what sports is about,” he reasoned.
The seniors had advanced to the final after beating Dryden 3-1 in the best-of-five semi-final earlier Thursday, winning the first two games 25-23 and 25-20, losing the third one 25-23, and then icing the victory with a narrow 28-26 win in the fourth game.
Meanwhile, the junior Muskies also found themselves in a tight match against Kenora before losing the best-of-five affair 3-2.
And like the seniors, the junior squad also could get that clinching victory after leading 2-1.
The Muskies opened with a 25-20 win, lost the second game 25-14, and then won the third one 25-22. But Kenora staved off elimination with a 25-17 win in the fourth game, then stole the match with a 15-9 triumph in the fifth and deciding game.
“They were really good games. The junior games were really close–both [teams] played really well,” said Chapman.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
