The winning senior division teams at the Dawson Invitational Volleyball Tournament over the weekend didn’t lose a step between then and Super Volley at Porter Creek Secondary on Wednesday.
Both Dawson champs won in straight sets, each in about an hour’s time.
In the senior girls game, the Porter Creek Rams went over the F.H. Collins Warriors 25-23, 25-11, 25-13.
In the senior boys, the Warriors won 25-11, 25-13, 25-10 over the hosting Rams.
In the closest set of the night, the Rams girls trailed by a few points for almost all of the opener. They finally caught up with the Rams at 22-22 before taking the set.
“It was pretty quiet at first so we wanted to bring the team’s energy level up, which was harder because the gym was so silent,” said Rams co-captain Rowan Brown. “But we managed to bring the energy level up by the end of the first set.
“It was good to see how well we came together and picked the game up fast.”
The Rams took the first set on back-to-back kills from power Daria Jordan. Jordan later put down another kill to give her team set-point in the second before teammate Amy Power put up a service winner.
“Daria Jordan was doing amazing on her jump serves,” said Brown. “She was on fire with her jumps serves today, which is awesome to see.
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“Our middles were hitting really well, as were our powers,” she added. “Megan Lanigan got some really good swings, so that was nice to see. The team was making some good saves on balls that were going out.”
The Rams now have a 2-1 Super Volley record for the season while the Warriors, who lost in the semis in Dawson, are now 1-2 in Super Volley play.
“One word: focus,” said Warriors head coach Jordan Borgford. “Focus is key. Not being able to recover after a mistake and get back into the point.
“It’s pretty frustrating ... There are moments where they seem to have it and then you have moments, like Dawson, where we had some massive breakdowns on the court that cost eight or nine points in a row.
“Volleyball is not a sport where you can recover from an eight or nine point deficit very often.”
The Warriors senior boys are looking like the team to beat come the Yukon Volleyball Championships later this month.
In addition to winning in Dawson, the team is undefeated in Super Volley with a 3-0 record.
They definitely didn’t show many weaknesses in their decisive win over the Rams (1-2) on Wednesday.
“I thought we had a good game. We played more the guys who didn’t get to play in Dawson somewhat - about half and half,” said Warriors setter Graham Mainer-Pearson. “I think we were just communicating well. Passing was really good, so that made my job easier. The guys were swinging.
“Even if they (Rams) got a few points, we were able to bounce back right away, which we haven’t done sometimes in the past. We were really able to do that tonight.”
Warriors power Stephen Grundmanis was dangerous from the service line in the second set. He put in six consecutive serves that were not returned, widening the gap from 16-9 to 22-9.
“Today was definitely a good day for that serve,” said Grundmanis. “It’s something I’ve been practising since the beginning of the season. I think today it just really came together.”
Getting a special mention from his teammates was libero Jono Runions, who made a number of quick digs in the match.
“I think Jono played great,” said Mainer-Pearson. “He only played the one game in the libero position this year - he’s normally a power. He had a good game back there considering he doesn’t play it that often.”
“He didn’t shank a single ball,” said Grundmanis. “He did everything perfectly.”
Contact Tom Patrick at tomp@yukon-news.com