Jamie Mountain
The end of the regular season quickly is approaching and the Muskie junior girls’ volleyball team has made it clear they are the squad to beat in NorWOSSA.
Fort High earned a pair of four-set home wins over the Dryden Eagles and Kenora Broncos last week that improved their league record to 7-0 and clinched top spot in the three-team standings.
“The girls are really playing good volleyball despite losing a set during each match,” head coach Bob Kowal noted.
“There were points during the match the kids looked like ‘world beaters,'” he added.
“The transition from offence to defence, and back again, was as good as I have seen it all year.
“Passing and serving are the strengths of the team, and it was evident throughout both games,” Kowal enthused.
“They are playing at a level beyond their years and I know they have more to give yet.”
The black-and-gold now are on a break for exams before concluding the regular season with a match in Dryden on Feb. 5.
Then they’ll compete at a tournament in Thunder Bay on Feb. 8-9, where they lost in the final last year.
Kowal said his squad would be working on a few tactical strategies and tinkering with other little areas of the game during the next few weeks.
“Quite frankly, I believe we are ready to play the NorWOSSA final right now,” he remarked.
“We will work on a few tactical strategies we feel we could use to attack both teams and, perhaps, get some easy points,” Kowal said.
“We will also be tinkering with a small change in our right-side attack to make it a little quicker.
“It’s not much but it’ll give the other teams one or two more elements for them to worry about in the finals,” he reasoned.
“We don’t really have to change much about our game, but I think it is important for the team to constantly grow and giving them a couple of things to learn will be beneficial.”
Kowal also noted his player will be out to seek redemption at the Thunder Bay tournament.
“We lost in the finals last year and I know that did not sit too well with the team,” he recalled.
“They will have a short break with exams but they will be ready for [the NorWOSSA final] on Feb. 15.”
As for the wins against the Eagles and Broncos last week, the Muskies continued their impressive dominance at home.
The black-and-gold dispatched the Eagles last Tuesday by set scores of 25-8, 19-25, 25-14, and 25-21 before also downing the Broncos in four sets on Thursday.
The set scores were 25-10, 25-19, 24-26, and 25-16 in that one.
“[Last] Tuesday, we were coming off the tournament win from the weekend and I felt we were a step behind for the majority of the game,” admitted Kowal, referring to the Muskies’ win at the “Winter Blast” tournament hosted by the Kenora Broncos.
“We’re usually excellent at anticipating what might happen during the game but it seemed that we really weren’t mentally sharp,” he remarked.
“It is to expected as they did play a lot of volleyball on the weekend and used a lot of their emotional energy,” Kowal said.
“It happened the last time we won the Dryden tournament, as well, so I was sort of expecting it.”
Kowal also noted his squad is still young so nerves play a bigger factor than they should.
“Couple that with high expectation for themselves, they sometimes worry about teams scoring 10-12 points on them,” he said.
“And even if the other team is playing exceptionally well, they take it personally.
“Honestly, I don’t mind that. It means they care and want to excel,” Kowal reasoned.
“It will get to a point where their skills, desire, and athletic ability just won’t allow them to fail,” he added.
“And when I say fail, I am not talking about winning or losing, rather, just failing to play up to their expectations.”
