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DAWSON CITY – Volleyball teams from Haines Junction, Whitehorse, Carmacks and Mayo travelled to Dawson City last Thursday to attend the 35th annual Dawson Invitational Volleyball Tournament.

Twenty-five teams in total played from Thursday afternoon through Saturday afternoon, with time out for a Halloween-themed dance at the Oddfellows Hall on Friday night.

The entire tournament was broadcast live on CFYT-FM, with CFYT volunteers providing commentary and Robert Service School student Nylan Zalitis handling the technical issues from a booth on the stage in the gym.

After many hard-fought games, with the leads changing hands a number of times, the end results saw Vanier Catholic Secondary sweep the Grade 9/10 divisions, and Porter Creek Secondary and F.H. Collins Secondary split the two Grade 11/12 competitions.

The Grade 9/10 Girls competition: Vanier Catholic Secondary School – gold; Porter Creek Secondary School – silver.

Vanier took the medal in two straight games.

The Grade 9/10 Boys competition: Vanier Catholic Secondary School – gold; Robert Service School – silver.

The contest went to three games with Vanier winning the tie-breaker.

The Grade 11/12 Girls competition: Porter Creek Secondary School – gold; Vanier Catholic Secondary School – silver.

The P.C. Rams broke the tie in the third game.

The Grade 11/12 Boys competition: F.H. Collins Secondary School – gold; Robert Service School – silver.

F.H. controlled both games, but there were a number of very close rallies between the two clubs.

Medals for the various competitions were presented by Dawson City Mayor Wayne Potoroka, Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in Chief Eddie Taylor and Deputy Chief Jay Farr.

There were more than 200 students in attendance, including two Grade 8 and two Grade 7 teams from RSS. The Grade 7s played an exhibition game.

Attending schools included the Whitehorse high schools – F.H. Collins, Porter Creek Secondary, Vanier Catholic Secondary and École Émilie-Tremblay.

Rural schools included JV Clark (Mayo), Tantalus (Carmacks), St. Elias Community School (Haines Junction) and the host school, Robert Service.