A couple of early and late rallies didn't payoff for Soir de Semaine in the final game of the 14th Annual Corporate Volleyball Challenge.

The team fell behind in the beginning stages of the match and despite showing a great deal of persistence were unable to draw even with a talented group from Yukon College. The Yukon College group were called Duh Collige Graduites.

Duh Collige Graduites ended up winning the match decisively 25-16, maintaining their undefeated streak at the tournament.

"It feels really good," said Duh Collige Graduites' player Doug Graham. "There was some excellent competition. I was actually quite surprised, but we had some pretty good students here too, so it makes a heck of a difference."

The event was held at Rotary Peace Park, where three nets were setup in beach volleyball area.

Sunny skies and just enough of a breeze to keep the temperature comfortable proved to be one of the highlights for the event. The tournament began at 5:30 p.m. and concluded around 9 p.m.

There was no dress code and teams were encouraged to wear costumes or uniforms to get into the spirit of the event. Corporate Volleyball is hosted by the Whitehorse Parks and Recreation department and is the only beach volleyball tournament put on by the city throughout the year.

With 20 teams competing this year, overall participation was up as well. Usually the tournament averages around 16 teams.

This year, games went up to 25 points and every team was guaranteed at least two matches.

Each team had to have at least six players, but some groups ended up having to play with less than that, including Soir de Semaine, who had five players. The team entry fee for the tournament was $20.

The event also featured MC's Serge Michaud and Tanya Blakney who provided colour commentary on the games as well as awarded door prizes to both spectators and participants.

Besides the door prizes, there were three main awards given out. The top team award was a gift certificate to Earls Restaurant, which was valued at $250, while each member on the second place team was given an adult pass to the Canada Games Centre. The runner up team was also awarded with a $35 gift certificate to Tony's Pizza.

The most enthusiastic award went to Flock of V Balls, who were the Parks and Recreation Summer Staff. The team was one the most creative groups in the competition, dressing up in eighties style costumes, which featured lots of polyester and plastic jewellery.

The other major award that was handed out went to the team with the best name. This year, the honour went to the Mixed businesses sponsored To Kill a Blocking Nerd. The team was also nearly awarded with the most enthusiastic award for their costumes as well.

Players on Duh Collige Graduites showed they have a sense of humour with their uniforms, wearing bright pink pants with grey T-shirts that both advertised Yukon College.

A small, but vocal crowd stuck around to watch the final match between Duh Collige Graduites and Soir de Semaine.

Soir de Semaine, whose business name was SDS Production Musique, took an early 1-0 lead after scoring the opening point off the serve. Duh Collige Graduites didn't let giving up the first point faze them at all and stormed back to score the next four tallies.

With the score 12-6 in favour of Duh Collige Graduites, Soir de Semaine went on an incredible 6-1 run bringing the game within one point.

That was as close as Soir de Semaine would get though and a very nice tip shot from one of the players on Duh Collige Graduites built a 5-0 run that essentially put the game out of reach.

Graham, who picked out the uniforms for Duh Collige Graduites, said he bought them at the College's bookstore.

"They had a bunch of these pink pants left and I thought with those tall young guys on the team that it would make an excellent costume for them," he said. "I didn't intend to wear them, but I pretty well had to by the end."

Eric Hennessey was a member on Duh Collige Graduites and joked about the pink pants helping the team with the tournament win.

Hennessey, who participated in the tournament for the first time, said he enjoyed taking part in the event.

"I love volleyball," he said. "We have lived here about three years and take every opportunity to be a part of the community and any opportunity to play volleyball."

Mia Lee is a Leisure Program Coordinator for Whitehorse Parks and Recreation and organized the Corporate Volleyball Challenge.

"I am extremely pleased with the outcome," Lee said. "All of the teams showed up even if they were short a few people and the weather couldn't have co-operated more. It was absolutely fantastic."

Lee said the corporate volleyball event is always a popular draw in the community.

"It's beach volleyball," she said. "I think that is why people come out because it is outside and playing beach volleyball is a lot of fun. It's laid back and easy going and if you want to be serious and win we have that element too because there is going to be a winning team, but you don't have to be a superb volleyball player to have fun."