In the boys gold medal match the F.H. Collins Warriors defeated the Vanier Crusaders in a hard fought 2-1 win.

The Crusaders jumped on the Warriors in the first set, taking a 10-4 lead, which they extended to 19-12 without much resistance. The Crusaders were firing on all cylinders getting contributions from all their attackers and backing it up with lights out defence.

Left-side attacker Quinn Howard was hitting every ball set to him with bad intentions as he led the way for the Crusader offence. The Warriors did not have an answer in the first set; it was all Vanier as they took the first 25-15.

The Warriors were able to put their lopsided first set loss behind them in the second, as they tightened up their game on both the defensive and offensive side of the ball. The teams were close at the midway point of the set with the Warriors holding a slight 15-13 advantage.

The game began to get feisty during the second, as Crusader head coach and the Warrior assistant coach were assessed yellow cards for arguing the referee’s calls that they deemed to be questionable. The yellow card in volleyball serves a warning much like soccer. The Warriors were then issued two red cards, for continuing to argue with the head referee, giving two free points to the Crusaders.

These setbacks did not hinder the momentum built by the Warriors and they grew their lead 20-14. Manus Toews led the Warriors offence from the right side as tournament MVP, and setter; Griffin Bisson gave him a steady dose of sets, which he attacked with malice.

The Crusaders could not right the ship, and they suffered a major blow near the end of the set as Howard hobbled off the court after trying to save a ball close to the poles, which hold the net in place. The Warriors took the second set 25-16.

The momentum remained squarely on the Warriors side of the court, as they took an early 8-7 lead in the third, a set that is only played to 15 points. The Warriors grew their lead to 10-7. From there they did not take their foot off the gas, as their attackers were able to crush the ball past the outstretched hands of the Crusader blocks.

With the score 13-8, Warriors middle attacker Felix Maltese smashed the ball onto the Crusader court, all but putting the game out of reach.The Crusaders were able to keep their season alive scoring the next two points, but it was to little to late.The Warriors took the third and deciding set 15-10, on the way to the gold medal.

The Warriors came in third in both Supervolley and the Dawson Tournament. According to Toews, in the days leading up to the Championships the team really began to mesh into one unit.

“I’m feeling pretty pumped, it’s been a long season,” said Toews. “It feels really nice to finally win a tournament. In the first couple of tournaments we didn’t come together as a team, we were six individuals on the court. In this tournament we managed to mesh and come together as a team and pull out a victory.

“In the last few practices we thought to ourselves we have to get our stuff together. We can’t be bickering with each other and get a win. You can’t win as six separate players and we started communicating more. Things came together, personally I always thought we were the best team.”

The Warriors went undefeated throughout the tournament on their way to gold.

In the boys bronze medal game, the Supervolley champion, Porter Creek Rams took on the Robert Service School Knights, from Dawson City. The Rams beat the Knights 25-19, 25-14 to win bronze in straight sets.