The Vanier Crusaders and F.H. Collins Warriors boys teams had a tough act to follow on Thursday evening at Vanier Secondary School.

In front of their home crowd, the Crusaders were able to push past the Warriors for a 3-1 win in the third instalment of the Supervolley season.

It was Vanier who got off to the quick in the first set building an early 7-1 lead. Chad Williams began the game with a strong performance at the service line.

The defence at the net kept the Warriors offence at bay as the big front line of Quinn Howard, Sam Wanless and Zack Beaudry all added a significant number of blocks to their stats.

On offence, Tony Kim got all the Crusader attackers involved and they bombarded the Warriors defence with an array of shots.

F.H. found their footing midway through the set and got strong contributions from their player of the game Alex Shultz out of the middle, while setter Griffon Bisson was all over the court and getting all the attackers involved.

Although the Warriors did well to claw back, the early hole they dug proved too much as the Crusaders grabbed the first 25-19.

Despite losing the first set the Warriors did pull some momentum to their side of the court. The second frame was much closer as neither team was able to create any separation.

Each team had its fair share of highlight-reel plays on both defence and offence. It wasn’t until Howard stepped up to the service line did Vanier build a small lead.

Unleashing a booming spin-serve, Howard rattled off numerous points as the ball shanked off the arms of the Warriors’ passers. The only person who could stop his serve was himself as he cracked it into the net.

That was the last point the Warriors would get. Vanier player of the game Rylan Stoker put the game away with an attack from the middle as the Crusaders took the second 25-19.

It was a different story in the third set. From the onset, the Warriors were cruising. They were playing well on both offence and defence and making little mistakes.

Bisson continued to find the attackers and Shultz, Austin Shaw and Sahill Kumar all put away heavy kills for the team.

Vanier came rushing back in the back-half of the third set getting to within one point after trailing by more than eight for most. With the game tied at 24, Vanier had two costly mistakes and the Warriors escaped with a 26-24 win.

It was all Crusaders in the fourth. They built an early lead and did not take their foot off the gas. Riley Chisholm, out of the back row, had the final kill and Vanier took the fourth 25-15.

Vanier coach Dwayne Stoker said the aim for the evening was to get everyone involved.

“The goal tonight to get more game experience and come away with the victory,” said Dwayne. “I’m still looking at the score because things can change in a heartbeat but at the end of the day we wanted to get everyone on the floor.”

Vanier now has two games in their Supervolley season and Dwayne touched on what he has liked so far.

“Just the grit and how they get along together,” said Dwayne. “They are getting closer and closer. For team stuff that’s essential. When times get tough it’s that closeness that helps you prevail.”

The Crusaders will be back in action tonight as they look to avenge their loss the Porter Creek. F.H. will take on the Rams on Halloween.