After being trampled by the St. Thomas Aquinas Saints in the season-opener here earlier this month, the Muskies boys’ volleyball teams were hoping to shut them down up there last Thursday afternoon.
But they didn’t.
“We lost both [matches],” noted Adrian Chapman, head coach for both the junior and senior volleyball teams.
Still, Chapman was quick to applaud his teams’ efforts.
“The juniors did really well–they played a lot better than the last time [here],” he said. “The other team was too strong [for us] but all the matches were close.”
Jim Robertson, the athletic director for St. Thomas Aquinas, said he didn’t have the school sheets but agreed the junior match was a close battle.
“The junior Saints won the final set 15-13 for sure,” he noted.
After the Saints had won the first set, the Muskies roared back to take the next two to lead the best-of-five showdown 2-1. But the black-and-gold couldn’t nail down that elusive third victory.
Instead, it was the Saints who won the final two sets to take the match 3-2.
“The juniors’ defence really stepped up and I am really proud of them,” remarked Chapman.
It was much the same story for the senior squad, who battled back after losing the first set to go up 2-1 only to lose the last two.
“The seniors came out flat and we got beat out badly,” said Chapman. “The first two sets weren’t good games but in the last three, we should have had them–but we lost it.
“The third and fourth were really good and the fifth was fantastic but we just couldn’t beat them,” he added.
Still, Chapman noted both teams are getting better.
St. Thomas Aquinas vice-principal Bob Valentini noted both were exciting matches and went right down to the wire.
“[The Muskies) are giving us a good match and we are giving them a good match, which is something I think surprised the Muskies because we are a only a single ‘A’ team and they are ‘AA,’” said Valentini.
He noted the Saints’ teams are peaking this year and have a bright future.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
