Jamie Mountain
The good times kept rolling for both Muskie girls’ volleyball teams last week.
The senior squad capped the week by earning bronze at the 20-team St. Patrick tournament that ran Friday and Saturday in Thunder Bay.
The black-and-gold finished round-robin play in second place with wins over Sioux Lookout and Trillium, a split with the Churchill Trojans (Thunder Bay), followed by a loss to the Hammarskjold Vikings (Thunder Bay).
Then they opened playoff action Saturday with a straight-sets win over the host St. Patrick Saints.
Redemption later was found with a sweep over Hammarskjold in the quarter-finals.
The Muskies then lost by a 2-1 margin to the Atikokan Voyageurs in the semi-finals, which set up a bronze-medal match against Thunder Bay’s top-ranked Westgate Tigers.
Fort High showed determination and stamina in emerging victorious in straight sets.
“Our high-speed offence is coming together and we are getting better at controlling the tempo of the game,” enthused coach Duane Roen.
“We are still battling consistency at times,” he conceded. “But overall, they [the girls] proved that they are a force out there and can compete with the top teams in the area.”
The seniors headed into the weekend tournament fresh off a 25-18, 25-18, and 25-21 sweep over the Kenora Broncos last Thursday afternoon at Fort High that improved their NorWOSSA record to 4-2.
Heading into the final two games of the regular season this week (today against the host Broncos and then tomorrow in Dryden versus the Eagles), Roen has some areas he would like the squad to improve on so it can finish off strong for the playoffs.
“We need to stay the course and stick to the game plan,” he stressed. “Staying aggressive throughout the match is key to our success.
“We can find ourselves complacent, at times, and allow our opponent back into the game,” he admitted.
“Our communication is still lacking at critical times and we are needlessly losing points, [so] communication and actively competing throughout the match will be our focus over the next couple of weeks,” Roen added.
The junior spikers also claimed a straight-sets victory (25-8, 25-11, and 25-9) on Thursday against the visiting Broncos that improved to their league-best record to 5-1.
“The team played very well last week,” lauded coach Bob Kowal. “They never really allowed our opponent to get into the game, and started and finished strong in all three sets.”
“Serving and transition were the strengths for our match against Beaver Brae,” he added.
“[And] most importantly, [the] kids are more relaxed on the court and do not seem to get flustered when things ‘don’t go perfect’ for them.”
With the last two games of the season this week against the host Broncos today and then tomorrow in Dryden versus the Eagles, Kowal admitted that not having every player available could be a challenge in their effort to finish strong.
“The girls have an extremely busy week as they play back-to-back NorWOSSA games on Wednesday and Thursday, and then have to travel to Thunder Bay for a two-day tournament,” he noted.
“We do have students who will need to miss one of games in order to concentrate on their school work [and] this may leave us with a few less options,” Kowal remarked.
“But the team does have depth and it should not be a major factor.
“It is nice to have all your players,” he conceded. “But other players will step up, if necessary.”
