Jamie Mountain
A season’s worth of hard work and great execution has landed the Muskie junior girls’ volleyball team in a pretty good spot.
The squad sported a 7-0 record in NorWOSSA play going into its regular-season finale yesterday against the host Dryden Eagles, with the outcome not known as of press time.
The black-and-gold also showed more of their dominance over the weekend as they compiled a 6-0-1 record en route to claiming the title at the St. Patrick Volleyball Festival in Thunder Bay.
With the NorWOSSA playoffs looming this Friday, hosted by the Kenora Broncos, head coach Bob Kowal said his squad has a specific goal in mind on how they want to finish things off–and that’s to secure a second-straight league crown.
The black-and-gold have a bye to the final by virtue of clinching a first-place finish during the regular season.
“On Friday, we’re in it to win it,” Kowal remarked.
“We do have a game plan for both Beaver Brae and Dryden,” he noted. “There are a couple of little changes we can do to help us gain an advantage for the [final] on Friday.
“I have good idea what our starting lineup will be for the finals and positional players who will play pivotal roles with their serving and passing skills,” Kowal added.
“We are leaving it all on the table Friday and look forward to the challenge ahead,” he vowed.
“Again, if we play a very solid game, I am confident the team can–and will–prevail.”
As for the weekend tourney, Fort High went 3-0-1 in Pool ‘A’ play on Friday to finish in first place.
That included straight-sets wins over the host St. Patrick Saints Green (25-18/25-12), Superior Gryphons (25-9/25-8), and Hammarskjold Vikings (25-16/25-11) before earning a split with the St. Thomas Aquinas Saints of Kenora (25-15/21-25).
The Muskies then swept the La Verendrye Vipers by scores of 25-8 and 25-11 in Saturday morning’s quarter-finals to advance to the semis against the Dryden Eagles that afternoon.
The black-and-gold easily took the match against the Eagles by scores of 25-14 and 25-21 to set up the final against the Westgate Tigers (Thunder Bay).
Fort High showed its dominance yet again by winning gold in straight sets (25-17 and 25-9).
“It was a big win for us. We lost this tournament last year and it sort of left a ‘sour taste’ with us,” Kowal recalled.
“In my opinion, it is really important to replicate your success over period of time, if you believe you’re a good team,” he reasoned.
“Having said that, we have won every tournament and league game to date, so I think the results speak for themselves.
“We’re a really good team but have one more challenge ahead of us–and that, of course, is to win the NorWOSSA championship on Friday,” Kowal said.
The Muskie ‘B’ team, meanwhile, also had a good showing in Thunder bay in going 2-1 in Pool ‘B’ play.
After losing in three sets to the host Saints’ Gold team (25-27, 14-25, and 25-22), the squad rebounded with wins over the Vipers (25-19, 17-25, and 25-33) and the Whiskey Jacks (25-14, 25-17, and 25-10) to finish in second place.
The Muskies then faced the Eagles in Saturday morning’s quarter-finals, where they lost in straight sets (18-25 and 15-25).
That dropped the black-and-gold into the consolation side semi-finals, where they again were beaten in straight sets by the Vipers (18-25 and 22-25).
