DCVI jr. boys overcome adversity to earn H-P silver

The St. Marys DCVI Junior Boys volleyball team captured the silver medals after advancing to the Huron-Perth final last week. Pictured in the front row, from left to right, are Dominic Marziali, Danny Dittmer, Zach Larmer and Dylan Chateauvert. In the back row, from left, are head coach Ian Moore, Seth Zub, Peyton Wynands, Parker Levy, Donnie McGregor, Henry Switzer, Vaughn Barr, Walker Wakem and Hunter Pickel.

By Spencer Seymour

“When you're high, the mental part of the game is fine and you’re rolling. It's what you do when you're down to get back up to that high that defines you.”

Those were the words of St. Marys DCVI junior boys volleyball head coach Ian Moore after his team advanced to the Huron-Perth playoffs final last week on the backs of a spirited show of resilience by the Salukis in their quarter-final win over Goderich.

On Nov. 5, the third-ranked Salukis met Goderich and, early on, St. Marys was firing on all cylinders taking the first set 25-18 and jumping out to a 19-9 lead in the second set. After a timeout was called, with the Salukis already thinking ahead to what substitutions they would make when they got to their 20th point, Goderich suddenly roared to life and went on a 16-1 run to win the second set 25-20.

Moore explained the entire team, including himself, had gotten a bit too comfortable in their 10-point lead.

“We were down. Our guys were in a hole which had nothing to do with physical ability. It was all mental. I think we started to feel a bit too confident that we had the set won, myself included, as I was talking about subbing in some different kids. We lost our focus and couldn’t regroup.”

The Salukis began to claw back into the game in the third set but couldn’t turn the tables enough to wrestle control away from Goderich as the sixth seed won the third 25-22.

“The second and third sets were hard for us, entirely because of a mental stumble,” Moore told the Independent. “If you don’t have the mental part right, the physical part doesn’t happen and, in this case, we lost the mental part and, as a result, couldn’t execute. But the boys didn’t give up; they picked themselves up and got back to where they needed to be.”

Staring down the barrel of being eliminated, the junior boys emerged for the fourth set finally showing signs of a renewed focus. Though not a perfect set, St. Marys got the 25-19 win to force a fifth and deciding set.

“Our guys slowly got their mojo back,” said Moore. “They got into a rhythm and played to their potential. We started to settle in and play our game, and we got better as the rest of the game went. We won the fourth set, not handily, but we did well, and then we really locked in during the fifth set.”

The Salukis took the final set in commanding fashion by a score of 15-3.

With the win over Goderich, the Salukis earned a match in the semi-finals against South Huron, which entered more rested than DCVI having earned a buy from finishing second in the Huron-Perth regular season standings. However, the lack of a test earlier in the day didn’t benefit South Huron as they had hoped. Meanwhile, DCVI’s hard-fought road to the semis calcified the team’s resilience and focus en route to St. Marys winning three straight sets to move to the championship game on Nov. 7 against Stratford District Secondary School (SDSS).

According to Moore, the adversity the Salukis had to battle through in their quarter-final against Goderich gave them a valuable lesson that propelled them forward through the rest of the playoffs.

“When you're high, that mental part of the game is fine and you’re rolling. It's what you do when you're down to get back up to that high because there are going to be periods of time when you’re struggling and not doing as well as you know you could. I had two goals for the day. Number one; breathe. I told them that there will be moments when you’re down and moments when you’re anxious. That’s when you take a long, deep breath, ground yourself and refocus.

“The other goal was communication and teamwork,” Moore continued. “If our six people on the court aren’t connected, they’re going to have a hard time winning. If they’re connected and picking each other up, that’s how you will get through those down moments. I think they got an even better understanding of why those are important because of the two poor sets against Goderich, and I think we were able to carry that with us into our match against South Huron.”

Unfortunately, the Salukis fell three sets to one against the powerhouse SDSS squad in the final but walked away with the silver medals and a berth at WOSSAA on Nov. 13.