Mitch Calvert
The Muskie junior boys’ volleyball team is on some kind of roll.
Perfect so far in NorWOSSA action, the black-and-gold carried that momentum into the annual “Pumpkin Smash” tournament in Dryden over the weekend en route to a gold-medal performance.
Fort High split into two squads, with the veteran Grade 10 unit defeating the host Eagles in straight sets (26-24 and 25-21) in the best-of-three final.
They also beat the Muskie Grade 9 team and then the Red Lake Rams in the playoffs.
The victory was especially impressive considering the team’s struggles in the round-robin, during which the Grade 10 group finished in second place with a 4-4 record.
“We beat Beaver Brae three-straight but lost all of our round-robin sets to Dryden [26-27, 23-25, 14-25],” noted junior coach Duane Roen.
“And lost one of three to Red Lake.
“We had a couple of injuries, and with no subs it was a long and difficult day with six-straight 25-point sets in a row,” he added.
The Muskie Grade 9 squad finished fifth in their pool with a 1-7 record.
“The Grade 9 boys played well even though the win/loss ratio does not show that,” Roen stressed.
“We were working on team building, and understanding our defensive [and] offensive systems,” he remarked.
In related news, the junior boys ran their NorWOSSA record to a perfect 5-0 with a four-set win over the Dryden Eagles last Thursday at the “Fish Tank.”
The black-and-gold took the first two sets by scores of 25-17 and 25-23 before losing the third one 25-9.
The Muskies then led 23-10 in the fourth set before hanging on for a 26-24 win to seal the best-of-five match.
The senior boys, meanwhile, fell to 0-5 in NorWOSSA play despite going toe-to-toe with the vaunted Eagles in a three-set loss here by scores of 25-21, 26-24, and 25-22.
Both teams were slated to take on the host Kenora Broncos yesterday (results were unavailable prior to press time).
