Juniors spiked at local tourney

The Muskie junior girls’ volleyball team will be looking to claim their fifth-straight NorWOSSA crown when they begin league play here next Tuesday against the Dryden Eagles.
But after seeing the powerful Eagles in action at a tournament here over the weekend, long-time Muskie head coach Struchan Gilson admitted his team will have their work cut out for them if they hope to defend their league title.
Dryden’s split squads both looked strong and talented as they reached the final of the eight-team tournament, with Dryden #1 going on to sweep Dryden #2.
Meanwhile, the host Muskies had to settle for fourth place after being swept two-straight by Atikokan in the third-place match.
“[The tournament] was a learning situation for us,” said Gilson. “Dryden has five grade 11s in their lineup and they looked very strong. To beat them, it looks like we’re going to have to be at the top of our game.”
But the veteran coach also knows full well championships aren’t handed out in December. In fact, while he admitted Dryden is ahead of them right now, that doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll be when the league final rolls around later this winter.
The fact is, the Muskies have won seven of the past nine NorWOSSA junior crowns. They know how to win, or at least learn how to do so.
“We have lots of work to do with our new players. Our serving was poor and that makes a difference,” said Gilson, who will be assisted by Duane Roen this season.
“We don’t have a lot of height, and we didn’t pass well,” he added. “But it gives us something to coach and we’ll be building a defence to work on handling big hits.
“We will be a better team by later on,” he predicted.
The Muskies have some height up front in Linda Zimmerman and Sarah Busch, and athleticism in Allison Hyatt (a regional team player), setter Jamie Whitecrow, and Danielle McGee, who suffered an ankle injury during round-robin play at the tournament.
“We have to look at a lot of the good things we do well and tell the kids that, and then improve what we don’t do well,” Gilson noted.
He said the key to this season’s squad, much like it is every year, rests in their ability to pass the ball fluently from the backcourt to the setter, and then to the power or weak side.
It’s imperative the Muskies build a strong passing attack, especially when playing against the talent and size of a team like Dryden.
“Dryden has a nice lineup but they’re beatable,” Gilson stressed.