Jamie Mountain
Much like the other three Muskie court sport teams, the senior boys’ volleyball squad had a busy week last week with a pair of NorWOSSA games but they also travelled and played at the annual Kenora Invitational Tournament over the weekend.
The Muskies played hard and ultimately came way with a 0-2-1 record in Pool ‘B’ play before losing their quarterfinal on Saturday and winding up sixth overall at the tourney.
“The great thing about the tournament is that we were able to balance the playing time so that everyone was getting court time,” noted Muskie coach John Gibson.
“It was very tiring, especially after a late night coming home on Thursday and then back on the road Friday morning.
“The boys were tired on Saturday, and we lost Mike [Vanderaa] to an injury, hopefully just a muscle strain,” he added.
The Muskies opened tourney play on Friday with a straight-sets loss to both of the Pelican Falls Timberwolves (17-25/21-25) and Westgate Tigers of Thunder Bay (15-25/15-25).
But the squad rebounded by earning a split with the Dryden Eagles (23-25/25-23) to finish Pool ‘B’ play with a 0-2-1 record and setup a quarterfinal rematch with the Saints on Saturday morning.
But the Saints again took it in straight sets by scores of 25-17 and 25-9.
That dropped the Muskies into the consolation semifinals, were they rebounded with a 2-1 win over the Timberwolves (28-26, 20-25, and 15-12).
But that good fortune didn’t last as Fort High ended tourney play with a straight sets loss to the Sioux Lookout Warriors in fifth-place game that afternoon (23-25/21-25).
“Playing cleaner volleyball,” is what Gibson cited as the biggest challenges for the Muskies at the tourney.
“We had way too many unforced errors (e.g. missed serves, and letting the ball hit the floor).”
Fort High had gone into the tournament fresh off a 2-1 loss to host Eagles (2-1) in NorWOSSA play last Thursday.
After winning a tightly contested first set 29-27, the Muskies (1-2) dropped the final two sets by scores of 25-14 and 25-20.
Last Tuesday, the Muskies had fared much better as they dispatched the winless Warriors (0-3) in three sets to nab their first win of the season in their home-opener.
The set scores were 25-21, 23-25, and 25-21.
“I really like that the boys were way more into the game on Thursday and the bench really pumped up the players on the court,” Gibson enthused.
“Both matches were streaky and we need to consistently play at a high level,” he stressed.
“Letting leads slip away really hurts, but when they bounced back and outscored their opponents they got the win over Sioux Lookout.”
Gibson has been impressed by the Muskies’ attacking so far this season when setter Peyton Avis is given a good pass and feels his squad’s blocking is now looking much better than it did in the first week of the season.
“Caleb Allen’s blocking, Mike Vanderaa’s serving, and Chandler Borger’s hitting have really stood out for me,” he lauded.
“But all of them are now passing better, cupping the hit, and digging up balls.”
In terms of improvements his squad can make moving forward, Gibson said that its court coverage could use some work.
“Defensively we made some huge gains this weekend and I think that really showed up in our first set with T.A.,” he noted.
“We will need to improve our court coverage, and make fewer mistakes as we progress.”
The Muskies were slated to resume NorWOSSA action this afternoon when they welcomed the unbeaten Broncos (3-0) to Fort High for the lone time this season, with the set scores unavailable at press time.
