Mitch Calvert
The Muskie senior girls’ volleyball squad had a solid showing at the 14-team Lakehead Invitational tournament Friday and Saturday in Thunder Bay.
The black-and-gold finished first in their pool thanks to four-straight victories, stringing together wins over Hillcrest (25-20/25-13), Geraldton (25-16/25-15), Sioux Lookout (25-20/25-19) and Hammarskjold (25-20/26-24).
Fort High then beat the Kenora Broncos in Saturday’s quarter-final, winning in three sets by scores of 25-20, 21-25 and 15-13.
But the Muskies ran into the formidable Dryden Eagles in the semi-finals, losing in straight sets by scores of 25-8 and 25-6. That seemed to take the wind out of their sails as they lost the bronze-medal game to Sioux Lookout by scores of 25-18, 24-26, and 10-15.
Head coach Duane Roen said some poor choices and an injury to Alyssa Perlette derailed them in a close second set which set the tone for the rest of the match.
“We couldn’t stop their middle hitter who took over the game for [Sioux Lookout],” he noted. “We became complacent and didn’t hit hard or place the ball, and the Sioux did.”
Muskie Lauren Gurski was named to the tournament all-star team while Maddison Kluke of Dryden, which went on to capture the gold medal after crushing the Westfort Tigers 25-7 and 25-11, was named the tournament MVP.
Fort High also lost to the Eagles in NorWOSSA action here last Wednesday by scores of 25-14, 25-12, and 25-19.
“Dryden came out with a lot lower sets [Wednesday] and it threw our blocking off,” Roen said after that match. “Those girls can hit so well that if we’re not up to block them and slow those hits down, it’s really tough to defend and come back and mount an offence against that.”
The seniors seemed to adjust to Dryden’s strategy in the third set, but it wasn’t enough to mount much of a comeback.
“We turned the tide a little bit,” Roen noted of their 19-point effort.
“We were the ones running the offence and they had to play defence, and for a team that has such a strong offence, their defence isn’t as good in comparison,” he added.
“It’s hard to see our offence when we are so busy playing defence,” Roen continued. “But it’s there, the girls can hit hard and hit well, but you don’t get much of a chance when you are so busy digging the ball up.”
Gurski agreed about the momentum swing, but admitted there’s plenty of work to be done if they hope to upset the Eagles in the NorWOSSA final here Feb. 20, noting the Muskies’ blocking needs to be improved.
“If we can get their main hitters out of there, then it kind of crumbles the team, but other than that, we have to work hard and hit at them and make them play defence,” Gurski stressed. “We kind of came back [last Wednesday], but the first five points in the first set is crucial [as] after those first five points, if you don’t have it, it kind of decides the game for you.”
The Muskies had a lengthy post-game chat behind closed doors after the game, though Gurski said it didn’t involve any yelling or name-calling.
“[Roen] doesn’t really blast us, but it’s just frustrating playing against Dryden because we know we’re good, but Dryden is really good,” she remarked. “We’ve just got to build on [this game].”
The Muskies did rebound with a solid win over Kenora the following day, sweeping the host Broncos by scores of 25-13, 25-21, and 25-13 to even their NorWOSSA record at 3-3.
Juniors win
The juniors, meanwhile, earned a pair of wins last week over Dryden and Kenora to improve their league-best mark to 5-1.
Fort High battled back from a two-set deficit to overcome the pesky Eagles last Wednesday in a five-set nail-biter by scores of 20-25, 15-25, 25-16, 25-20, and 15-12.
“After the first set, we talked to the girls and I told them, at least to me, that they won that set,” junior coach Jason Cain recalled. “They put a lot of effort in, and the only reason we lost was because of a few of our mistakes.”
Despite the first two sets not going their way, the Muskies didn’t get flustered and kept their spirits high both on and off the court.
“We make sure everyone is part of the team,” Cain stressed. “We put the cellphones away and everyone [on the bench] is cheering for everyone who’s out on the court at the time.
“We’ve been spending a lot of time working on our mental game, zoning everyone else out and focusing on the game.”
Cain said the squad’s recent success against the Eagles stems from a simple formula.
“We’re hitting more. We’re getting our serves in and if we can consistently hit, we’ll get points because that’s what [Dryden] does,” he noted. “This is a huge win. Our middle hitter, Chelsea Hill, really stepped up.
“We’ve had Sara Roach injured for a couple weeks now, and [Chelsea] stepped up and showed she can be a really strong player,” Cain enthused.
The juniors followed that up with a four-set victory over Kenora last Thursday by scores of 20-25, 25-14, 27-25, and 25-17 on Thursday.
The Muskie court games scheduled here against Dryden last night were postponed due to poor road conditions. A make-up date had not yet been set as of press time.
