The Porter Creek Rams senior girl's volleyball team always knew they were capable of beating the Vanier Crusaders, but at the Yukon championships this past weekend, they finally proved it.

The Rams took advantage of a Crusaders team that was missing it's captain, Jana Tait, stealing the momentum despite the fact they were down 1-0 after the first set, and taking the next two sets to put an end to Vanier's hopes for the triple-crown once again this season.

'Finally,' said a grinning Jasmine Mooney, clutching her medal along with a plaque for receiving an All-Star nod. 'This is what we've been waiting for. This is the first time we've beat them all season.'

'The mental aspect of our game was huge,' added head coach Melanie Graham. 'We finally came together as a team. I don't think they really thought they could do it until now.'

Mooney said her heart had a tough time in the second set, which was won in overtime by Vanier, 27-25.

That victory was thanks in large part to Amy Palamar, who served ten balls in a row and was named overall MVP for the senior girls' championship. But Graham said it was a team effort first and foremost that brought home the hardware.

'We have some pretty big hitters and they all came out this game,' she stated.

'This time, it just all clicked,' said Mooney.

Vanier coach Russ Tait knew his team would be in tough against Porter Creek, especially with Jana away in Alberta this past weekend.

Jana won the season-long MVP at Super Volley just over a week ago.

'Jana is a real leader for the team on the floor, plus she's a consistent player, so she'll be missed,' said Tait in an earlier interview. ' It'll be a challenge for our team, but I'm counting on the seniors.'

Jana was selected as one of ten candidates from Northern Alberta, Saskatchewan and the territories for the Canadian Merit Scholarship.

It meant she had to travel to Edmonton Friday for an interview. The scholarship, worth about $16,000, recognizes students who have high academic achievement, are involved in their community and take part in sports and recreation.

Along with Mooney and Palamar, five other senior girls volleyball players were selected to the All-Star squad at the end of this past weekend's championship. Vanier's Roslyn Tait, Emily MacKinnon and Krystal Reaume joined Porter Creek's Kasia Leary and F.H. Collins' May Nguyen.

For the senior boys, it was the Rams' Kaleb Dawe picking up MVP honours at the championship, despite the fact Porter Creek was unable to stop a dominant Crusaders crew from hoisting the trophy and claiming their second-straight triple-crown.

After wins at the Dawson Invitational and Super Volley, the Crusaders started off slightly rusty this past weekend, but were able to pull their game together when it mattered most, taking the title in two straight sets.

'We lost a couple of rounds to start the championship and we were pretty scared,' said Tory Wiebe, who was one of two players from Vanier named to the All-Star team. 'We decided we had to step it up and we did.

'We knew (the Rams) would come out ready to play, so we had to be ready too. I give the credit to everyone on the team.'

Vanier head coach Dwayne Stoker said while his team also won the triple crown last season, this year was special, because it seemed like there were so many different things happening both on and off court.

'We just needed to concentrate on us and the game. Jared Hougen was hurt (Friday) before the semifinals, so we had to do some juggling of the lines, and everyone stepped up. They wanted it.

'They were a lot more focused. I always told them, they're their own worst enemies, the only ones who can beat them are themselves. And it doesn't matter what we've done in the past, it all comes down to this game, that's it.'

While Vanier has two obvious stars in Wiebe and senior Dennis Boyd, Stoker was hesitant to single out any one player in the team's success, calling volleyball 'a true team sport.'

'They deserved this, all of them.'

The majority of this season's team from Vanier are seniors, so this was their last hurrah before they graduate and move on to other things. Wiebe, who is one of a few that will be returning next season, pointed out Porter Creek is also losing a few of its veterans.

'We're both starting fresh next year and we'll see what happens.'

Asked about his team's chances for a three-peat, Stoker said he's not even thinking about next year at this point, or whether he will even return as head coach.

'I've gotta go home and see what my kids look like,' he laughed. 'With the Canada Games this past summer, really I've been going at this since (September 2004), as have Sukh (Sandhu, the coach of the Rams) and Vicki (Dawe, assistant coach of the Rams) as well. So I need a bit of a break.

'It was a good year.'

Named to the senior boys' All-Star team were: Wiebe, Jason McKay from F.H. Collins, Patrick Winkler from Dawson City, Porter Creek's Cedric Schilder and Matt Taylor, and Vanier's Dennis Boyd.

Meanwhile, in the Grade 9/10 boy's and girl's finals, it was Porter Creek claiming gold.

The real story at the championship, however, was two communities Faro and Mayo taking home the silver medals in the boy's and girl's divisions, respectively.

In the Grade 8 championships, it was F.H. Collins collecting the gold medal in the girl's division and Vanier finishing on top for the boys. The two schools switched places in the boy's final, with the Crusaders taking gold and the Warriors settling for silver.