There were more than a few nerves tested for the curlers at this year's Nuway Crushing Ladies Bonspiel this past weekend at the Whitehorse Curling Club.

In a dramatic finish to the bonspiel, a draw to the button was needed to decide the placing order for the top 10 teams. This was as a result of several teams being tied in overall points after the final game.

"I think it makes it better, it's more exiting," said bonspiel organizer Donna Scott. "If all 17 teams would have been tied, that would have been great. That means that every team is into it right to the last end."

The Ladies Bonspiel uses an alternative points system, which awards two points to the team that takes an individual end, while giving one point to the losing squad. If the end is blanked then one point is given to each team. The most a team could win in a game was 16 points and each squad played a total of four games.

This year's Ladies Bonspiel featured nine more teams than in 2007. Each member on 10 of the 17 teams was able to select an item from the prize table in the order in which their team finished. Inscribed wine glasses were also presented to curlers on the top three rinks.

For a second straight year, Sarah Koltun's curling rink took the top honours at the Ladies Bonspiel, thanks to a great draw from Chelsea Duncan.

Duncan, who also drew to the button to win last year's Ladies Bonspiel, said she was a little nervous before throwing the rock.

"I was more nervous before, but when I was actually throwing the rock I wasn't too nervous," she said. "It was actually the same situation last year where I actually was the one drawing to the button too, so it was kind of like a deja vu of last year."

Duncan, 16, said her strategy was to throw the stone a little harder just to make sure that it got down.

Team Koltun had was tied with Cindy Birnie's team after the final game. Both rinks had 53 points.

Thirteen-year-old Jenna Duncan is Chelsea's younger sister and playing on the team for the first year. Jenna, who throws lead, said it felt good to win her first bonspiel with the team.

She said she was also kind of nervous before Chelsea threw the deciding stone.

"It was good though," Jenna said. "We knew she could make it."

The third place squad was the Ev Pasichnyk, whose team recorded 49 points in total.

With all of the team members under the age of 13, Bailey Horte's was the youngest team at the championships. The rink placed ninth with 48 points at its first adult bonspiel.

"I am really happy, because we did well and we didn't come in dead last," said team third Kelly Mahoney. "This year our team is working out pretty well. We have gotten way better from when we first started."