Yukon Sports Report

Competitive high school volleyball continued earlier this month with Super Volley coming to Vanier Catholic Secondary School for two nights of matches.

Things got underway on Oct. 7 when the F.H. Collins Warriors made the arduous trek to take on the Vanier Cruaders in the battle of Riverdale, and action continued on Oct. 8 with the Porter Creek Rams facing off with the Crusaders.

Vanier girls beat F.H. Collins

Oct. 7, 2021: Vanier 3 – F.H. Collins 1 (20-25, 25-18, 25-18, 25-6)

The visiting F.H. Collins Warriors got off to a hot start, building a 4-0 lead before both sides settled into a back-and-forth first set which the visitors held on to win 25-20.

In the second set, the Crusaders earned a 25-18 win capped by a nifty setter dump.

The momentum continued for the Crusaders in the third set with another 25-18 win.

The fourth and final set was the most decisive of the season, as Vanier controlled play from start to finish to win 25-6 and take the match three sets to one.

Players of the game were Jewnwel Junsay for the Vanier Crusaders and Elodie Fabre-Dimsdale for the F.H. Collins Warriors.

Junsay said her team was able to stay focused after losing the first set.

“It was just playing our game and having fun,” Junsay said. “Keeping everyone up and positive because everyone was starting to get down.”

She added that the final set was the result of a strong mental effort.

“Serving was pretty scary because last practice we didn’t have great serves,” Junsay said. “Our coach (got on us), so we tried to have our best serves possible.”

Crusaders edge out Warriors in boys game

Oct. 7, 2021: Vanier 3 – F.H. Collins 2 (22-25, 25-19, 23-25, 25-20, 15-12)

The Vanier boys had all they could handle from the F.H. Collins Warriors, winning at home by the narrowest margin of the year three sets to two.

Vanier’s 14-10 lead in the opening set evaporated after a Warriors timeout with F.H. Collins fighting back to a 20-19 lead. Two timeouts from Vanier couldn’t stem the tide as the Warriors won the opening set 25-22.

In the second set, the Crusaders held a lead for most of the action and earned a 25-19 win to tie the match at one set apiece.

The third set was a 25-23 win for the Warriors who secured a 22-21 lead and held on from there to take a two sets to one lead.

Vanier was not ready to concede however, blitzing the Warriors to lead 9-1. An early timeout from F.H. Collins helped, as the Warriors rattled off four straight points to cut the gap to 9-5 and force a Vanier timeout. From there, the Crusaders stayed ahead to win 25-20 and force a fifth and final set.

In the final set, the Crusaders built an 8-5 lead and held on from there to win 15-12 and take the match three sets to two.

Players of the game were Marko Cooper for Vanier and Seamus O’Brien for F.H. Collins.

Cooper said it was a team effort to earn the win.

“We definitely felt very accomplished,” Cooper said after the game. “(I’m) very pleased with how the boys played. We definitely all pulled together. … We all played as a team and that’s how we should win it.”

The Crusaders aggressive approach to serving took some time to affect the game positively for the home team, but Cooper said his team kept forging ahead.

“I think it’s just a drive to win. I know all those boys want to win really bad,” Cooper said. “We were like that in the very first game against Porter Creek (two weeks ago) but picked it up at practice really hard, practised our serving, and I guess we all pulled it through.”

With such a narrow margin of victory, Cooper said starting fast will be the key for future games.

“(We need to) definitely come out strong. We didn’t really come out too strong at the beginning here … but we’ve got to push through and get that win again.”

Vanier wins over Porter Creek boys

Oct. 8, 2021: Vanier 3 – Porter Creek 0 (25-15, 25-18, 25-20)

With the previous night’s nail-biter no doubt still front of mind, the Crusaders made it a point to start quickly with a decisive 25-15 win in the first set against the visiting Porter Creek Rams.

From there, the home team won 25-18 and 25-20 to take the match 3-0 and remain undefeated.

Players of the game were Angelo Caringal for the Crusaders and Arlow James-Walker for the Rams.

Caringal credited his team’s enthusiasm for the win.

“Our teammates were hyping us up,” Caringal said. “When one of our teammates got a good hit, everybody is hype and it just powers everyone up.”

That positivity will be key to the rest of the season.

“Sometimes when one of our teammates doesn’t get good hits, misses the ball, doesn’t set it well … they just get down,” he said. “When that happens, everyone gets down (and) we don’t play well.”

On this night though, things were going Vanier’s way.

“But that isn’t about this game; everyone was doing (that) well.”

Crusaders beat Warriors in girls match

Oct. 8, 2021: Vanier 3 – Porter Creek 0 (25-13, 25-10, 25-17)

The Vanier Crusaders girls volleyball team continued their winning ways, dispatching the Porter Creek Rams in three straight sets to remain undefeated and complete the sweep on home turf for Vanier.

Vanier won 25-13, 25-10 and 25-17.

Players of the game were Morgan Seeley for Vanier and Nia Temira for Porter Creek.

Super Volley standings

With the second week of Super Volley in the books, the girls standings have Vanier at 3-0, Porter Creek at 1-2 and F.H. Collins at 0-2.

In boys competition, Vanier is 3-0, F.H. Collins is 1-1 and Porter Creek is 0-3.

It’s still all very much to play for, however, as all three schools are at least guaranteed a semifinal berth with a bye on the line for the top finisher in each division.

The final week of Super Volley is Oct. 20 and 21, with the semifinals on Nov. 4 and the finals on Nov. 5. All remaining matches are at F.H. Collins Secondary School.