Muskie spikers swept by Eagles

The Dryden Eagles continued their NorWOSSA volleyball dominance by beating both the junior and senior Muskie squads yesterday at Fort High.
The junior Muskies took to the court first and quickly were dispatched in straight sets by scores of 25-18, 25-4, and 25-11.
Afterwards, Muskie head coach Jeff Rajala lauded the Eagles for their impressive performance.
“If we get to the [NorWOSSA] gold-medal game, that’s the team we’re going to have to beat—or the Broncos are going to have to beat, for that matter,” he said.
After a competitive first set, the Eagles crushed the Muskies in the second one. It was the second time in less than a week that Fort High had suffered a 21-point defeat in a second set versus Dryden.
“That set is my fault,” Rajala said. “I take full responsibility for that set. I made substitutions a little too late.
“I had first-year players who probably, ultimately, didn’t gain too much confidence because I left them in there too long,” he added.
“What I should have done is pulled them a little earlier and let them get a breather because we were getting shelled out there.”
The Muskies picked up their play in the third set but simply were overmatched by the Eagles—who cruised to the 25-11 win to secure the best-of-five match.
“Third set, we did well,” Rajala said. “I’ve got to say that our focus was to get our transition game corrected and, barring a few problems, we made a pretty good transition.”
The senior Muskies were next to take on the Eagles and while the match was more competitive, the result ultimately was the same.
The black-and-gold shot out of the blocks—winning the first two sets by identical scores of 25-22. But the Eagles stormed back, taking the final three sets 25-20, 25-10, and 15-10 to steal the match.
“Wow, what a game,” Muskie head coach Duane Roen said afterwards.
“It was fun to watch and a great game to coach,” he added. “The kids played really well and I was happy for them.”
After two extremely competitive sets to open the match, the Muskies appeared to shy away from their power game in the final three, allowing the Eagles to stage a comeback.
“Third game, we stopped hitting at them and started free balling,” Roen remarked. “We know that if you free ball against Dryden, they’re going to crush it at you.
“I’m a little disappointed with our blocking,” he added. “A lot of those big hits come right across the top of the net and they’re blockable, so we’ll be working on that.”
Despite the loss, Roen was greatly encouraged by his team’s performance against an Eagles squad that’s undeniably the class of NorWOSSA.
Both Muskie volleyball teams are in action this weekend at tournaments. The junior are competing at the Kenora Broncos’ home tourney while the seniors are off to Thunder Bay.
The black-and-gold resume NorWOSSA play next Tuesday (Dec. 19) when they travel to Kenora to face the Broncos.