Rams edged in volleyball thriller

   Gabriel-Dumont squeezes out victory over St. Joe's, three games to two,

   in the District senior boys' volleyball final

  November 18, 2021

By Rob J. Ross 

ST. THOMAS - Not much separated the two best senior boys teams in the District.

Unfortunately for the St. Joseph's Rams, the Gabriel-Dumont Guepards left with the championship, capturing a thriller of a final, three games to two, squeaking out the fifth and deciding game, 15-13, Thursday, at St. Joseph's high school.

"We lost by the narrowest margin you could lose by in the last game," Rams coach Kevin Paiva said. "It's super tough. Dumont is a great team. We knew what we were up against. We knew where they were kind of going to attack us from. They did it really well."

The Rams had not dropped a game this season, until losing the opener of the final, 25-19. The home side rebounded taking game two, 25-15. The Guepards took game three, 25-22, before the Rams extended the match to five games, winning game four, 27-25.

"We kept battling back. The guys knew what we had to do to win. We needed to hit and we needed to not make errors," said Paiva. "We could do that and showed it in the second and fourth set. In the fifth set we pulled ahead but let them come back. There was nothing we could do at the end. They made a nice play at the net. It was a tough play at the net."

St. Joe's led game five, 5-1 and 10-7, before Gabriel-Dumont tied the affair at 11. The winning point was somewhat controversial, called in by two officials, the Rams felt the ball was out and wanted the third official to weigh in, but to no avail.

Gabriel-Dumont grabbed early momentum from their host by taking the opening game.

"It was tough because it was the first set we'd lost all year. It put on extra pressure," Paiva said. "Momentum is huge too. You can tell those momentum swings and it's tough to get the other team off one."

The Rams finished first in their District group, winning all five matches, three games to none, before sweeping their quarter and semi finals.

Niko Dennis stepped up to become the Rams' setter.

"We didn't have a setter, so Niko found out he was setting before the first game of the season," Paiva said.

Owen Waterhouse, Jordan Moore and Hunter Milligan, joined Dennis as the team's fifth year players.

"We had a great season. The boys played super hard," Paiva said. "Our Grade 13's were great role models for the school. Three of them were on the floor the entire game. They knew what we needed to do to get here and win. It just didn't fall our way. It's a tough way to lose, by two."