Joey Payeur
There was a big question as to whether the reigning NWOSSAA senior boys’ volleyball champions even would have a chance to defend their title.
Now, there’s no question they are on track to do exactly that while ending another school’s reign atop the NorWOSSA standings at the same time.
The Muskie senior boys’ volleyball squad closed out a spotless 8-0 regular-season record with a 3-0 sweep of the Dryden Eagles (3-4) here last Thursday afternoon by scores of 25-14, 25-16, and 25-16.
With an automatic bye to the NorWOSSA final this Friday at 7:15 p.m. at Fort High, the Muskies sit just one win away from returning to the best-of-three NWOSSAA showdown Nov. 20-21 against the Thunder Bay champs.
But Fort High also sits on the cusp of stopping the Dryden Eagles’ five-year grip as NorWOSSA kings, as well as capturing the first senior boys’ volleyball title for the Muskies since 1999.
(The Muskies advanced to NWOSSAA last year because the NorWOSSA-champion Eagles had an automatic berth at OFSAA as the host team).
Not bad for a team that didn’t have a coach in place until two days before the start of the regular season—and only had nine players come out.
“At the start of the season, I was kind of worried just because we had a very small bench and weren’t able to make cuts at all,” admitted rookie head coach Shana Windigo.
“But I’ve seen most of the guys play before so I knew that they would do good this season,” Windigo added about the group, which did have five players back from last year’s OFSAA qualifying group.
“I really wasn’t expecting to go undefeated in the regular season,” she conceded.
“But it was awesome and was something that they really worked hard for.”
Windigo had to miss the first game due to her paperwork for being hired not having gone through the appropriate channels in time.
But it didn’t take for her long to figure out there was plenty of promise for the season ahead.
“I think I realized that we were going to do good this season at the first game that I was able to go to,” she recalled.
“The boys work really good together and they know how each other play, so they’re able to back each other up when people are struggling.”
What followed was a stellar effort that saw the Muskies win 21 out of the 23 sets they played.
For Windigo, it all starts with attention to detail behind the service line.
“The team has definitely improved on their serves,” she noted.
“It’s something that we work on in every single practice because it’s such an important part of the game,” Windigo stressed.
“Any missed serves are easy points to the other team, so it’s really something that we’ve been working on eliminating.”
That philosophy played itself out to the letter against the Eagles last Thursday.
“They were all serving really good,” lauded Windigo.
“Henry [Geyshick’s] serves were amazing . . . and Brandon [Geyshick] really helped out with his serving, too.
“They were not executing more plays yesterday [Thursday] with their quicks, back row attacks, and shoots.
“I still think that trying to set up different plays [is] something we really have to work on, though,” Windigo added.
“But it was good to see them actually trying them in a game because we’ve really only tried them in practice.”
But Windigo also doesn’t want her team to be putting any horses before the cart.
“I’m not sure if the guys will be overconfident—they all still know that they have to go out there and prove that they deserve to win,” she stressed.
“I think that our last away game against Dryden really made them realize that they can’t just fool around and get an easy win since Dryden took us to five sets, with the last set being close.”
With a core group of veterans who know what it takes to win big matches, Windigo doesn’t expect the pressure of trying to achieve a perfect NorWOSSA season—and doing so in front of a home crowd—will cause her team to crumble.
“I think the guys will enjoy being able to play in front of all their friends and family, especially since they’re playing in a championship game,” she reasoned.
But Windigo isn’t sure playing in the last match of the day will be to the Muskies’ advantage.
“We won’t be having to play two games, but we will also be waiting all day to play, so I guess we’ll see how it plays out,” she remarked.
It will be a big deal to the Muskie players if they can wrap up its first NorWOSSA title in 16 years—and no less of a satisfying accomplishment to their coach.
“It would mean a lot to me to have an undefeated season, especially since I came into this season late and with no coaching experience at all,” said Windigo, who is being assisted by Nancy Indian.
“It would definitely be a big confidence-booster.
“But no matter which way it goes, this has been such an awesome learning experience for me and no matter what, I am so proud of the boys,” she enthused.
“They have been patient with me while I figured this whole coaching business out,” Windigo chuckled.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better group of players to be coaching for my first time.”
