Joey Payeur
They might have thought going in that they were in over their heads.
But the Muskie junior girls’ volleyball team left Thunder Bay knowing they had proved they belonged on the same court as their more experienced opponents.
Coach Bob Kowal indicated as much after his squad reached the quarter-finals at the St. Patrick Volleyball Festival senior girls’ tournament over the weekend before being eliminated in straight sets by none other than the senior Muskie squad, which went on to capture the gold medal.
“It was a good weekend,” said Kowal, referring to the juniors posting a 5-3 sets record during the preliminary round before falling in the quarter-finals.
“It’s hard to be critical of a junior team finishing in the top eight of a senior tournament,” he added.
“But I think if you ask the girls in retrospect if they could have finished better, I think they would agree a top-four finish would not have been a stretch.”
The all-Muskie matchup that ended up costing the juniors the chance to move on may not have taken place if the younger contingent hadn’t lost its first two sets to the Kenora Broncos.
“A slow start with [Kenora] may have cost the girls an opportunity in playing in the final four, although they probably deserved a better fate after losing the second set 25-22,” noted Kowal, whose team dropped the first set 25-15 and would have finished higher in their pool by beating the Broncos and thus avoiding the senior Muskies in the quarter-finals.
The juniors then romped over the Dennis Franklin Cromarty Thunder Hawks (Thunder Bay) by scores of 25-21 and 25-23 before splitting with the host Saints (25-13/15-25).
Fort High then polished off the round-robin with a 2-0 sweep (25-8/25-15) of the Manitouwadge Wolverines.
Going up against the St. Ignatius Falcons in the first round of the playoffs, the junior Muskies didn’t wither under the attack of the Thunder Bay squad and plucked the Falcons in straight sets (25-16/25-19) to advance to the quarter-finals.
Eight missed serves sank the juniors to a 25-16 loss in the first set before the seniors rolled to a 25-11 victory in the second one to seal the match.
Kowal said there were many positive signs for his team throughout the weekend, including what he called the improved play of starting front-row hitter Adyson Wilson-Hands, who battled through a rotator cuff injury.
“Adyson played smart the whole weekend and, instead of trying to muscle her way to points, used some smart play to keep defences off balance by tipping, making roll shots, and hitting spots,” he noted.
“Carmen Hebert and Jamie Spencer also made significant improvements in their game,” Kowal added.
Meanwhile, the junior Muskies (4-1) handled Kenora (0-6) in NorWOSSA action here last Thursday, downing the Broncos 3-1 (25-9, 25-21, 23-25, and 25-12).
“For the most part, we played very sound volleyball with just little mistakes,” said Kowal. “We played smart and aggressive.
“That being said, the team is still struggling with consistency–in Game 3, we missed 10 serves,” he noted.
“Take those away and we win easy.
“In those situations, we tighten up and perpetuate what’s happening on the court with more poor play rather than stepping up the effort,” Kowal explained.
The juniors went up against the Broncos again here yesterday, with the score unavailable at press time.
Then they head to Dryden tomorrow to face the Eagles (5-2).
In their regular-season finale, the juniors visit the Broncos next Monday.
