Lucas Punkari
In order to capture NorWOSSA gold here today, the Muskie girls’ volleyball teams face a long road ahead of them.
Both squads first had to defeat the Kenora Broncos in semi-final action this morning (results were not available by press time) to earn a spot into their respective finals this afternoon against the top-seeded Dryden Eagles.
The junior final got underway at 2 p.m., with the senior title game starting at 5:30 p.m.
In the senior ranks, the black-and-gold entered the playoffs with a league-worst 1-7 record after falling to the Eagles 13-25, 22-5, and 15-25 in their regular-season finale here on Thursday.
“Our first set didn’t go all that well,” admitted head coach Duane Roen. “But in the second set, the girls were very strong.
“The girls were making fewer mistakes out there, and our blocking was very strong, with Erika Moffitt just blocking balls like crazy,” he added.
In their final road game of the season last Tuesday, the Muskies fell to the host Kenora Broncos in four sets (20-25, 28-30, 25-22, and 22-25).
“Overall the girls played very well,” said assistant coach Char Bliss, who was in charge of the team in Kenora.
“They ran the plays that we had worked on in practice during the course of the week, and they were able to stay right with them,” she noted.
Prior to today’s playoff action, the senior Muskies competed at a tournament hosted by Lakehead University over the weekend, where they finished in seventh place after beating Manitouwadge and Kenora in the consolation round.
“Our passing and serving during the tournament both improved dramatically, and now we have a few days to improve our offensive choices as they often were not the best ones,” Roen remarked.
“It was also great while we were there to watch some university volleyball, and to also be a part of the ceremony for [former Muskie] Michelle Cournoyer, who is the current captain of the [Lakehead U.] Thunderwolves and was recognized for her five years there,” he added.
Meanwhile, the junior Muskies ended up in second place in the NorWOSSA standings with a 4-4 record following a three-set loss to the Eagles here on Thursday (15-25, 25-27, and 22-25).
“Despite the loss, it was still a good game and the girls played really well,” said coach Jason Cain.
“We knew going into this game that we were going to be playing in the semis no matter what, so we tried some different combinations and tried a couple of different things in the last set, which seemed to work well at times,” he explained.
Prior to that match, the black-and-gold bounced back from a couple of losses the week prior with a sweep of the host Kenora Broncos last Tuesday (25-17, 25-17, and 25-20).
“It just came down to putting our serves in play,” Cain reasoned.
“We were also able to attack the ball and get things going out there, which was something we had some problems with in our previous losses,” he added.
At this weekend’s tournament in Thunder Bay, the junior Muskies were the only non-senior squad to compete in the event, where they finished in fifth overall.
“We lost against a strong La Verendrye team from Thunder Bay in the quarter-finals in three sets, but we came close to winning in the third set,” Cain noted.
“In the round-robin, we played our best game of the year against Manitouwadge, which we won in two-straight sets, with Maryam Seid, Sierra Cousineau, and Megan Allan being on fire for us,” he lauded.
