Staff
They say there’s no rest for the weary and the Muskie court sport teams have definitely felt that lately.
All four teams played two league games last Tuesday and Thursday while the senior and junior boys’ volleyball squads both competed at the Kenora Invitational Tournament that was hosted by the Broncos and St. Thomas Aquinas Saints over the weekend.
The Muskie seniors opened tourney play on Friday with a straight-sets loss to both of the Pelican Falls Timberwolves (17-25/21-25) and Westgate Tigers of Thunder Bay (15-25/15-25).
But the black-and-gold rebounded by earning a split with the Dryden Eagles (23-25/25-23) to finish Pool ‘B’ play with a 0-2-1 record and setup a quarterfinal rematch with the Saints on Saturday morning.
But the Saints again took it in straight sets by scores of 25-17 and 25-9.
That dropped the Muskies into the consolation semifinals, were they rebounded with a 2-1 win over the Timberwolves (28-26, 20-25, and 15-12).
But Fort High ended tourney play with a straight sets loss to the Sioux Lookout Warriors in fifth-place game that afternoon (23-25/21-25).
As for the Muskie juniors, they opened tourney play on Friday with a 2-0 loss to the Saints (15-25/16-25) before rebounding with a sweep of the Broncos (25-9/25-9).
Fort High then ended pool play with a split against the Eagles (18-25/25-23) before losing 2-0 to both the Warriors (20-25/18-25) and Timberwolves (21-25/16-25).
The Muskies then faced Dryden in the quarterfinals on Saturday morning, where they won 2-0 (25-18/25-11).
But Fort High then ended tourney play by falling to the Saints 2-0 in the semis by scores of 25-17 and 25-19.
Both Muskie volleyball squads had gone into the KIT after battling the host Eagles for the first time in NorWOSSA action this season on Thursday.
The juniors (2-1) rebounded from their first loss of the season on Tuesday against the Sioux Lookout Warriors with a 2-0 win against the Eagles.
Set scores were 26-24 and 25-23. The Eagles won the third exhibition set 25-17 that didn’t factor into the actual outcome.
Regular season NorWOSSA volleyball matches are now only a best-of-three, with the third set still being played regardless of the score.
The seniors (1-2), meanwhile, came up short with a 2-1 loss to Dryden.
The set scores were 29-27, 14-25, and 20-25.
In girls’ basketball action on Thursday, the Muskie juniors improved to a league best 3-0 with a 36-32 win over the Eagles.
Tatum Glowasky again led all Muskie scorers with 11 points, with Emma Yerxa chipping in with seven points and Serena Teeple potting six.
Heaven States, Joyce Wu, and Ayiana Gagne each netted four points while Grace Smith and Monika Ruppenstein added a basket each to round out the offence.
The Muskie seniors saw their record fall to 2-1 with a tough 38-36 overtime loss to Dryden.
Jamie Spencer led the way with an eight-point performance in a losing cause for the Muskies, while Grace Petsnick added six points.
Keisha DeBungie, Janissa Judson, and Rachel Anderson each netted four points while Bella Ward potted three and Aurora Hutton, Simone Payne, and Joanna Empey each scored a basket.
All four Muskie court sport teams will resume NorWOSSA action on Wednesday when they host the Broncos for the lone time this season at Fort High.
The junior girls’ basketball and senior boys’ volleyball games will start at 4 p.m., with the senior girls’ basketball and junior boys’ volleyball contests to follow at 5:30.
