After ending a rival’s dynasty last season, the Holy Family Hurricanes are now working on one of their own.

The school’s Grade 7 girls volleyball team won their second consecutive gold medal Saturday afternoon at the Yukon elementary volleyball championships held at Porter Creek Secondary School.

The Hurricanes swept aside the Elijah Smith Eagles with two straight wins: 26-24 and 25-15 in front of several packed bleachers.

“It’s pretty exciting,” said returning player Paige Stockley. “Only five of us were on the team last year.”

Just like 2014, the team worked hard on proper technique in practice, and it paid off in the final, Stockley added.

Last year, the Hurricanes dispatched the Hidden Valley Huskies in the championship, denying the Huskies their fifth straight Yukon title.

“The girls were fun to coach,” Don Fedus said of his club’s second straight title. “They were really keen. They came the first day of school and said: ‘When are we starting volleyball again?’

“They tried to get better every day and ended up playing very well.”

The Hurricanes downed the École Whitehorse Elementary Wolves in the semifinal.

The team went undefeated en route to their second straight title, said Fedus.

“I keep telling them: ‘This is just your start. Keep playing. You have all of your high school and possibly beyond to keep playing.’ It was a pleasure coaching them.”

The event was hosted by the Yukon Schools Athletic Association in a tripleball format.

Tripleball rules see two of three rallies started by a coach soft-tossing a ball to the receiving player in an attempt to encourage three-touch play.

“At the beginning of the season, I was teaching them not to run away from the ball,” said Elijah Smith coach Kasia Leary. “By the end, we were working on three hits and actually spiking the ball.”

Leary said playing tripleball is valuable for young players.

“I feel like they start to understand the bump-set-spike (sequence) a lot more. Otherwise it becomes ping-pong. Before the game was really: if you could serve, you would win. This gives a lot more quality touches.”

The Eagles downed the Huskies in a close semifinal, before meeting the Hurricanes.

In the boys final, the Christ the King Wolverines came back to beat the Jack Hulland Hawks in a three-set thriller.

After the Hawks took the first set 25-23 on a back-row kill by Ashton Underhill, the Wolverines slashed their way back into the game, winning the final two sets 25-21 and 15-7.

Riding the powerful hits of Immanuel Egipto, the Wolverines scrapped their way back into the game en route to a gold medal.

“One of the biggest things I like about elementary volleyball is the progression from the start of the season to the end,” Wolverines coach Ron Billingsley said post-game.

“A lot of them really haven’t played it at all. And to come from not knowing the sport to being able to receive, set and attack is pretty fun to watch.”

Christ the King went undefeated throughout the three-day tournament.

Billingsley said his troops were focussed from the start of the year.

“They’re a tight bunch, all close friends,” he said. “They were all really supportive of one another, picking each other up after mistakes.

“They were dedicated – in the gym every day. Every recess, every lunch hour they were giving up. They were focussed and had a goal.”