It was supposed to mark the end of an era.

After dominating the territory in volleyball for the past few seasons, it seemed as though the tide was finally turning on the Vanier Crusaders this year, thanks to strong starts by both the Porter Creek senior boys' and girls' teams.

With double wins at the Dawson Invitational and a Super Volley title for the girls, the Rams were hoping the Yukon championships this past weekend would provide the stage for the emergence of a new powerhouse.

Instead, it all seemed much too familiar.

As the Porter Creek senior girls took to the court in Saturday afternoon's final, the triple-crown seemed well within reach. After all, they were taking on a much less experienced Crusaders squad, one which they had beaten convincingly throughout the season.

But after splitting the first two sets, Vanier came out swinging in the third and thanks to some great work by Roslyn Tait and Natalie Sands, came out with the victory.

'Throughout the game, we had hope,' said an obviously emotional Tait. 'We really believed we could beat them.

'We just played more like a team and had fun. There was no pressure on us.'

Head coach Russ Tait, who has been coaching volleyball for about 20 years and has won numerous championships, said he was especially proud of this year's team for coming together when it mattered most.

'This is my 20th year of coaching and I've been lucky enough to have my teams in the finals since 1998. But this one is probably the sweetest in lots of ways.

'Last year was a very strong group and the year before was strong. This group ... on the first day of tryouts, we had just six girls show up, so we had to go to the 9/10s and recruit players.

'We didn't have a big team of strong power hitters, but we had girls who were willing to work hard.'

One of those girls was Grade 9 student Jen Bedard, who Roslyn said 'stepped it up' during the championships.

'You can see she doesn't have her feet yet, but she's got a heart of gold,' added Russ. 'She's there to learn.'

The coach also praised Sands, who he said 'refuses to make those unforced errors'. He said Saturday's final could have gone either way, but the difference was consistency, something his team has been working very hard on.

'Last week we went to two passers (Roslyn and Nikki Belanger) instead of one and that really, really helped us.'

For the senior boys, it also came down to consistency.

Having split the first two major tournaments of the season, with Porter Creek taking the title in Dawson and Vanier claiming the victory in Super Volley, the Yukon championships were the tiebreaker.

Vanier took the first set but the Rams came back with a dominant performance in the second set. In the third, it was anybody's game after a quick rally by Porter Creek to tie it 13-13.

The big guns for the Crusaders, Tory Wiebe and Alejandro Pulido, brought it home in the end, marking the third straight year Vanier has claimed the senior boys championship.

'After Dawson, we took a look at our team and saw we had the skill,' said Pulido, who was named MVP of the tournament. 'We knew if we worked hard enough, we could do it, so we came back strong in practice. Now, we proved it on the court.'

Head coach Dwayne Stoker said the two teams battled hard all year, but it was heart that won out in the end.

'Heart took it over,' he stated, clutching his own heart after the stress of the seesaw battle.

'In Super Volley, we were down two sets to none. We won the third, then won the fourth and that's when we really started to believe.

'I just told them to be proud of their play, to play for each other. This is such a team sport.'

Stoker said the performance of Pulido was key for the Crusaders, because it took a lot of the pressure off of Wiebe, who is almost always the go-to guy.

'Alejandro has really come into his own. What I like about him, is even if he doesn't get the point, he doesn't dwell on it. He's just calm.

'It's huge when you have leadership from other people and you don't have to rely solely on Tory.'

Porter Creek head coach Sukh Sandhu was disappointed with the loss, but impressed with the play of several Rams.

While Kaleb Dawe is always a force on the court, Chad Curlew, Tim Steele-Beaver and Jake Schneider also played key roles in the Rams' success this season, said Sandhu.

'Tim is a guy that's really an unsung hero for us and Jake, he's going to be a great leader next year.'

Ryan MacLaren and Sam Johnson also caught the eye of the coach, as they subbed in throughout the game.

'Sam is a coach's dream. He calms the other guys down, gives us so much energy.

'We wouldn't have even had a chance of winning today without those two.'

Sandhu said it may take the Rams a few days to realize it, but they should still be proud of everything they accomplished this season. After all, they handed the Crusaders their first loss in men's volleyball in two years.

'Last year, when we lost, it was hard, because all those Grade 12s ... to see the look in their eyes after not winning at all.

'This year, we won Dawson. I hope they take how special that was and that they really understand it.'

More than 50 teams competed in six different categories at the Yukon championships, with all finals held at Porter Creek Secondary School Saturday.

In the Grade 8 boys' division, it was Dawson City taking gold while Porter Creek came out on top in Grade 8 girls' competition. F.H. Collins was the top Grade 9/10 boys' team while Porter Creek also won in the Grade 9/10 girls' division.