麻豆社区

The Porter Creek Rams provided the only wrinkle in the F.H. Collins Warriors season Thursday.

On Saturday, the Warriors got their revenge.

In front of a large crowd at F.H. Collins Secondary, the Warriors hammered the Rams 25-19 and 25-13 to win senior boys volleyball gold.

The victory clinched the first triple crown in F.H. Collins volleyball history, following gold medal wins earlier this season at the Dawson Invitational Volleyball Tournament and Super Volley.

In the first game of the Yukon championships round robin last week, the Rams beat the Warriors in three sets, costing the Warriors a shot at a perfect season.

No matter, said Warriors 麻豆社区and tournament MVP Max Clarke.

鈥淚t was a really big victory,鈥� the Grade 12 student said of Saturday鈥檚 gold. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the first time we鈥檝e won all three (tournaments) as a school.鈥�

While the Warriors oozed talent, it was the team-first attitude that pushed them to the top, said Clarke, 16.

鈥淭he people on the bench were really encouraging and they pushed us in practice,鈥� he said.

Last year, the Warriors suffered a crushing defeat in the final of the Yukon championships, when the upstart Vanier Crusaders beat them in two sets to nullify their shot at a triple crown.

That loss made Saturday鈥檚 win that much sweeter, said Clarke.

鈥淚t means a lot, considering that last season it was the only one we failed to get,鈥� he said. 鈥淎 lot of last year鈥檚 team returned this year so we had a strong squad this year that had experience.鈥�

Clarke鈥檚 teammates Ben鈥圙rundmanis and Peter Jacobs were named to the tournament all-麻豆社区team, joined by Rams power duo Jack Woodwalker and Trygg Jensen, as well as Daniel Moses (Vanier) and Galen Clarke (Dawson).

Warriors coach Denis Boyd said his team simply wanted to win.

鈥淲e didn鈥檛 start off on the best note,鈥� he admitted. 鈥淏ut maybe that was the kick in the butt we needed for the guys to get going. We would have liked to end on a perfect note. We didn鈥檛 do it, but that鈥檚 fine.

鈥淥ur main goal was to win the Yukon championships and be the best at the end,鈥濃�圔oyd added. 鈥淒awson and Super Volley ... it was obviously great winning them, but the ultimate goal was the Yukon championships. F.H. hasn鈥檛 won it in years and years.鈥�

Boyd said he had plenty of high-level athletes to choose a lineup from, and said the group鈥檚 strong friendship off the court was key to their success.

鈥淭he triple crown is a really special thing for the group of guys.鈥�

Rams coach Derick Bilodeau said the amount of talent the Warriors had this year was a stiff test to the schools.

鈥淲e had to play our best against them to have a chance to win. We just let them go on too many runs for points and you can鈥檛 catch up against a team like that,鈥� he said.

鈥淲e didn鈥檛 really win any games during the season until the end,鈥� Bilodeau added. 鈥淐oming into this tournament here, we peaked and played the best that we played all year. We went 4-0 in the round robin and we beat F.H.

鈥淚鈥坱hink we were the only team this year to beat F.H. at all.鈥�

Other members of this year鈥檚 Warriors squad included: Tristan Rentmeister, Luka van Randen, Etienne Geoffroy, Malcolm Muir, Logan Harris, Allan Mark, Tim Schirmer, Marcus Deuling, Tristan Sparks, Kyran Allen and Sam Christopherson.

Vanier beat Dawson for bronze, while a team from Mayo placed fifth.