Having won the Dawson Invitational, the Vanier Crusaders junior boys team had a lot of momentum going into the YSAA Volleyball Championship. But they didn’t want it to go to their head.
“We won in Dawson, but we didn’t want to think it would be too easy to come in and try to win, but we still did so that’s good,” said Crusaders captain Logan McKay.
The Crusaders went undefeated at the championship to take the Grade 9/10 boys title.
They capped their run with a 25-20, 25-13 win in the final over the F.H. Collins Warriors — the same team they beat in the Dawson final — at Porter Creek Secondary School on Saturday.
“It doesn’t matter who’s on the floor, we’re all a team and that really comes through in the game of volleyball,” said Crusaders head coach Dwayne Stoker. “There can’t be any friction, you have to trust each other. It doesn’t matter who comes in, who comes out.”
The Crusaders led for most of the opening set before the Warriors caught up at 19-19. Vanier took back the lead on a missed attack from the Warriors, got to set point on a service winner from McKay and took the set on a kill from Miguel Mangahas.
“They didn’t get rattled,” said Stoker. “They tried to stay focused and play through it and rely on each other to help each other through some tough moments.”
Vanier jumped out to a 12-4 lead in the second on a five-point run on the serve of Thomas Janzen. They clinched the win on consecutive kills from power Arcel Siosan, who was then named season MVP.
“He’s just really good and he’s smart — he knows where to put the ball all the time,” said McKay.
“He’s consistent and he has some experience,” said Stoker. “He just sees the floor. He’s a team player, he never gets mad at people and is always encouraging.”
The Porter Creek Rams took bronze, defeating the Warriors 2 team 25-16, 25-17 in the third place game.
Contact Tom Patrick at tomp@yukon-news.com