Muskie spikers struggle again

It was another tough day for the Muskie boys’ volleyball program as both the junior and senior teams fell to the visiting Kenora Broncos yesterday afternoon.
With the losses, both squads remained winless in six league matches.
The junior boys got off to a strong start, taking the opening set of the best-of-five showdown by a score of 25-14.
The lead did not last, though, as the Broncos stormed back to take the next three sets 25-17, 25-14, and 28-26.
Muskie head coach Greg Ste. Croix was greatly encouraged by his team’s play in the first set against Kenora.
“The first set we served. We passed. We set. We hit. We blocked,” he remarked afterwards.
But Ste. Croix believes until his team reduces the number of mental errors committed during matches, they’ll continue to struggle.
“We’re just doing a few things each set that cost us sets, games, points, and matches,” he noted. “Until people start turning around and saying ‘I need to be better,’ outcomes are going to be similar.”
And as the losses continue to mount, the players are growing more and more frustrated.
“It’s pretty frustrating because we’re waiting to figure out, as a team, that we need to pass better and set better and spike and stuff,” Steven Romaniuk said after the match.
Passing was a common concern among many of the junior players.
“I think we need to pass better to the setter to get good spikes in the court,” Chris Legg reasoned.
“Yesterday [Monday] we spent 95 percent of the practice on passing and today [Tuesday] I think it reflected a little bit in our game,” Joe Basaraba added.
“We passed a little better—but there’s still room for improvement,” he stressed.
The outcome was similar in the senior Muskies’ match as the Broncos swept the home team by scores of 25-20, 25-15, and 25-20.
But while the results may have been similar, the mood surrounding the two teams couldn’t be any more different.
Senior Muskie coach Brian Love is convinced his team is on the verge of a breakthrough and that only minor changes need to be made.
“It’s just going to be speeding it up and making it a little quicker,” he said.
“It’s little things. We’re so close,” he stressed. “We’re walking around with a big monkey on our back because we haven’t been able to win. . . . But I’m not going to change anything major.”
The senior players share their coaches optimistic outlook.
“We should be there, probably by next game,” setter Nick Ashworth said. “I thought we would have been there this game or even last game, but it’s all starting to come together.”
Both the junior and senior squads will be looking to earn their first wins of the season next Tuesday (Oct. 31) when they travel to Kenora for a re-match against the Broncos.
In last week’s NorWOSSA action, the junior and senior spikers both were swept in three sets by the host Dryden Eagles.
The junior Muskies once again started strong, though losing the first set 25-22 against a strong Eagle team.
But as has been the case all season long, the black-and-gold faded as the best-of-five match progressed and lost the next two sets by scores of 25-17 and 25-12.
The seniors, meanwhile, came out flat to start their match, dropping the opening set 25-14.
They lost the second one 25-18 before coming on strong in the third set en route to a 25-23 setback.