Mitch Calvert
The Muskie senior and junior girls’ volleyball teams defended their home court in fine fashion last Thursday.
The seniors (2-1) took their best-of-five match with the Kenora Broncos in three-straight sets by scores of 25-13, 25-21, and 26-24.
“So far, so good,” Muskie coach Duane Roen said of his team’s start to the NorWOSSA season. “We have a lot of talent on this team, and when we put it together, it’s pretty good volleyball.”
The girls handled the Broncos relatively easy through two sets, and then went deep into their bench for the third and final one.
“A lot of these girls haven’t had a lot of league play, but after the first two sets went our way, I decided to give them some time on the court and they played well coming from behind,” Roen enthused.
“The girls never gave up and slowly got the points they needed at the end.”
Despite the positives from the victory, senior Kayla Windigo admitted they still need to work on their consistency if they expect to advance beyond NorWOSSA at season’s end.
“We just need to be more consistent,” she stressed. “Lots of the times when we play Dryden, when we play any team, we are the ones giving them the points by making unforced errors that shouldn’t be made.
“Once we start keeping the ball and hitting hard at Dryden, they aren’t going to know what to do,” Windigo added.
Roen said despite their lack of success against Dryden to date (including a straight-sets loss on Dec. 16), the positive news is the team knows it can be better.
“The girls realize that they can’t make any mistakes against them [the Eagles], and by getting everyone some court time, we can see where the mistakes are being made and fix them up in practice,” he noted.
Windigo said that’s a stark contrast to last season’s squad, which was almost entirely comprised of rookies facing their first taste of senior volleyball—and in a little over their heads.
“We were all just beginners at the senior level, so it was kind of a shock to us seeing how much more intense it was from juniors, so we had to adjust to that,” Windigo remarked. “We worked more on our defence, and this year we are focused more on our offence, so we are a harder-hitting team now.”
Windigo added communication on the court is a must-have in order to succeed.
“That’s one of our main focuses, and we’re starting to do that way better now,” she said.
Meanwhile, the Muskie juniors (2-1) also swept their best-of-five match with the Broncos last Thursday by scores of 25-20, 25-23, and 25-13.
First-year head coach Jason Cain said his players continue to progress at a steady pace.
“In the first tournament, we weren’t communicating that well, our setters had laryngitis so it was really tough, but we’ve been pushing that a lot lately and that really is the key to get everyone moving and into the game,” Cain explained.
“When we first started, we had one line and we kind of subbed when we needed to, but now it’s nice that we have a couple lines we can depend on, and they are definitely communicating and coming together,” he added.
Cain also noted practice time has been well spent at improving their service game—and it is beginning to pay dividends in game situations.
“Serving was a weak spot when we started and we’ve spent countless time on it,” he remarked. “I don’t know how many practices we’ve dedicated to it, but it’s made a huge difference.
“And even in our practices, not many serves are going into the net anymore, and at this level that is what counts.
“You’ve got to be able to serve and make the other team make a play,” he stressed.
Cain also is in his first year teaching at Fort High, but doesn’t lack experience in the coaching ranks, having had the same role with Grade 7 and 8s in Rainy River.
“It’s a whole different level, I guess, but I was always interested in it,” he enthused. “And in talking to Duane Roen, the senior girls’ coach, he’s helped me a whole lot in my time here.”
Much like in the senior ranks, Cain knows the Muskies will have to elevate their game to match Dryden’s attack.
“Dryden’s a tough team, they start at such a young age with their club level [teams],” he noted. “In fact, I think we’re going to get a club program of our own, which will help us down the road. It’s the way we need to go as a community.
“But for right now, we just have to be able to dig balls up on them because they serve unbelievably. And if we can get those balls back up, we can probably hit it hard back at them.”
Second-year player Chelsea Hill said the junior team has plenty of potential and can compete with Dryden when they are on their game.
“We have a lot of good Grade 9s who are really improving and that helps a lot,” she remarked. “We beat them one set in Dryden, but we just lost [momentum]. [So] if we keep playing like that, we can take them.”
Neither team returns to NorWOSSA action until Jan. 8, when they head up Highway 502 to face the Eagles.
