Sioux Spikefest celebrates 18th year

Tim Brody - Editor

Teams from Sioux Lookout, Dryden, and Thunder Bay competed in this year’s Sioux Spikefest, which was held last Friday and Saturday at Sioux North High School.
Four men’s teams and eight women’s teams competed.
Un-Retired from Sioux Lookout defeated DH Squad from Thunder Bay in the men’s final in two straight sets.
DH Squad captain Darin Hunter said the majority of the team were from Dennis Franklin Cromarty High School. “We saw one of Duane’s ads and decided to try and put together a team,” he said. “The tournament was fun… we had fun, just tried to keep things simple.”
Un-Retired captain Mike McCord said of the volleyball tournament, “I thought it was fantastic. It was good that everyone was able to travel with the snowstorm. It slowed things down a little, but the Thunder Bay teams were able to get in last night. We didn’t get too far off schedule. The camaraderie and everything was fantastic. I thought that everybody was having lots of fun.”
McCord said it was a competitive tournament, “It was a really good match of skill. Great sportsmanship by the players.”
McCord said he and his team had high expectations to win the tournament, “Myself I played college ball, I had a successful college career, and Kevin Negus (visiting from Winnipeg) played at the University of Manitoba and he was very successful there also, so the two of us have played post-secondary ball and everyone else is good at volleyball, kept up their skills.”
“Thanks to Duane Ogemah for running the tournament,” 
McCord added.
Dryden defeated Left Socks from Sioux Lookout in two straight sets to win the women’s final.
Dryden captain Allison Hyatt said, “Duane was super accommodating. We came from Dryden and had to take the back way because we couldn’t get through because of the highway. So, he changed some games around for us, which was super nice of him. It was run really well. Competition was good. Everything was fun, everybody was playing fair,” Hyatt said.
Left Socks captain Sheila Suprovich said of the tournament, “I thought it was really good. I’m glad the tournament had a full turnout, even with the weather, I’m glad we could still make it work.”
Organizer Duane Ogemah said of this year’s tournament, which has been running for 18 years now, “It went really good. I was happy with the turnout, especially with the weather. We had a lot of good teams... very good volleyball.  Quite competitive.”
The tournament has continued to grow over the years he said, “There’s always way more teams than we can accommodate… Volleyball has really grown, when I first ran it there were not too many people playing, now it’s everywhere. People are constantly asking me when this tournament is running.”