Staff
The Muskie junior girls’ volleyball team is off to a 3-0 start in NorWOSSA play so far this season.
The squad also can add a tournament title to its résumé.
The black-and-gold edged the Dryden “Blue” in the final of a tournament held there Friday and Saturday, splitting the first two sets by scores of 25-19 and 21-25 before prevailing 15-6 in the third-and-deciding one.
“It was nice to get the tournament win,” head coach Bob Kowal said Monday in an e-mailed response to the Times.
“But equally important was how the girls persevered after our main setter [Grace Kowal] was lost to an injury on the first point of the game,” he noted.
“They were put in a situation where they had to be flexible and adaptable, and met the challenge head-on.
“Kudos to Jamie Spencer, who had to set the first set after the Kowal injury and did an admirable job,” the coach lauded.
“They had every reason to make an excuse for losing, but they kept with it and played a very clean game despite being put in a very awkward spot.”
The Muskies had opened play by sweeping Atikokan “White” (25-4/25-9), the Dryden Whiskey Jacks (25-10/25-4), La Verendrye (25-5/25-13), and St. Ignatius (25-11/25-4).
They wrapped up round-robin action by splitting with Dryden “Gold” (24-26/25-13) and St. Thomas Aquinas “Red” (23-25/25-18) to finish in top spot in their pool.
Fort High then downed La Verendrye (25-17/25-12) in the quarter-finals before rallying to defeat Atikokan “Blue” in the semi-finals (21-25, 25-19, and 15-9).
Grace Petsnick led the team with 43 kills heading into the tournament final while Spencer had 33.
Spencer also led the team with 12 blocks.
Simone Payne chalked up 35 aces to lead the team in that department, with Aurora Hutton registering 31.
“I do know Katrina Slomke made five kills in the decisive match,” Kowal said. “She really stepped up her game.”
The Muskie ‘B’ team, which allows students to play in tournaments and practice regularly although they do not participate in NorWOSSA league play, also competed in the Dryden tournament.
They lost to Dryden “Blue” (8-25/8-25) and Atikokan “Blue” (10-25/13-25) but then split the rest of their round-robin matches with Hammarskjold (25-15/23-25), St. Thomas Aquinas “White” (16-25/25-15), Ignace (25-20/19-25), and Beaver Brae (27-26/23-25).
The ‘Bs’ wound up finishing fourth in their pool but then fell 25-23/25-18 to La Verendrye in the 4th place vs. 5th place showdown, with the winner advancing to face the Muskies in the quarter-finals.
“I knew going in there would be a lot of learning on the fly as most of our team was very inexperienced and had very little in-game experience,” admitted coach Terry McMahon.
“We had some tough games, especially against Dryden, but the girls never let it get them down,” he stressed.
“We learned a lot and got a little better each game, and ended up finishing fourth in our pool, which we were very happy with.
“We made the playoffs and were playing in system volleyball by the end of the weekend,” McMahon added.
“I am super proud of the girls.”
McMahon said the team rallied around its more experienced players.
“Abby Roach played great all weekend, and we got great setting from Andi Hunter and Rachael McCoy,” he lauded.
McMahon also thinks having a ‘B’ team is great and will pay huge dividends for the Muskie volleyball program down the road.
“More development and a more competitive program overall,” he noted.
“Things are looking great for Muskie volleyball.”
As for the NorWOSSA regular season, the Muskie juniors improved to 3-0 following a dominant straight-sets victory over the Kenora Broncos here Thursday afternoon (25-7, 25-7, and 25-11).
“I think our depth and continuity on the team are the two big factors for our early-season success,” said Kowal, noting there’s currently 13 players on the team who have played for him for one or more seasons now.
“It makes it easy to move kids around the lineup as they have a good understanding of the systems we are playing,” he reasoned.
“And equally important, our philosophy when it comes to playing this game–be aggressive, be assertive, and play defence!”
Despite the strong start to the season, Kowal said there’s two areas the team needs to improve on going forward.
“First of all, the team needs to improve our practice habits,” he stressed. “We have a lot of skill but we recognize that we don’t always practice as hard as we need to at times.
“It is something we have discussed as a team and will be a focus for the remainder of the [season].
“Secondly, we need to improve our decision-making on the court,” Kowal added.
“For instance, there are many times during games [that] players will be in a position to play a ball and will inexplicable duck out the way and expect another person to play the ball.
“The frustrating part for the coach, and players on the court, I assume, is that when our players actually play the ball, they’re probably successful 19 out of 20 times,” he noted.
“It is clearly a confidence issue.”
The juniors will close out the first half of the eight-game regular season tomorrow in Dryden against the Eagles, who they beat in four sets here last Tuesday (Dec. 12).
“After Thursday, we take a few days off during the Christmas break but we’ll be practising during the holidays,” Kowal said.
The squad then will play in a tournament in Kenora on the first weekend back after the Christmas break (Jan. 12-13).
In related news, the Muskie senior girls’ volleyball team improved to 2-1 in NorWOSSA play following a four-set win over the Kenora Broncos here Thursday afternoon.
The set scores were 25-11, 22-25, 27-25, and 25-19).
Both Muskie boys’ basketball teams also emerged victorious Thursday as the black-and-gold swept all four matches from the visiting Broncos.
The seniors earned a narrow 56-55 win while the juniors eked out a 42-41 triumph.
Those two teams also sit at 2-1 in league play heading into tomorrow’s games in Dryden.
