Peninsula Annual Men’s Volleyball Tournament

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Griffin Bakken and Roman Bockhorn

Peninsula High held their annual volleyball tournament Wednesday, March 8th, to support senior prom. The competition this year was fierce as each class fought hard to earn a spot in the championship. When asking senior volleyball player Burke Griffin about the competition this year compared to last year, he stated that “The class of 2017 was very good and was close to winning it all last year. However, the sophomores hung around this year and are going to be very good in the coming years.” The tournament consisted of all four grade levels with teams consisting of 12+ players with 6 being on the court. The competition started off with the Sophomores vs Juniors then the Seniors vs Freshman in the first round matchup.

 

Freshman

The Freshman gave a valiant effort but didn’t manage to pull out a win in the tournament. In the first round, the Freshman, down by several points, mounted a strong comeback against the seniors sending the Seniors into a panic. The Seniors, however, in the end, regained composure and closed the game out. The Freshman then played the Juniors and faced a tough loss resulting in their fourth-place finish.

 

Sophomores

The Sophomore class came into the tourney ready to turn some heads. Last year, as Freshman, they finished in 3rd place. Coming into the tournament as Sophomores they were poised to try and take home the number 1 spot. In the first game matchup against the Juniors, it was close throughout. When it came down to crunch time the Sophomores pulled ahead handing the Juniors their first and only loss of the tourney. Now going into the championship series the Sophomores were energetic and ready to steal the title from the Seniors.  

 

Juniors

The Junior class came out ready to improve their standings from their fourth-place finish in the previous year. Firing on all cylinders they played a close game with the Sophomores. The Sophomores pulled ahead in the final minutes of play and gave the Juniors the first loss of the tournament. They followed that game with a crushing victory against the Freshman. Starting off down 3 points, they got it together and stomped the Freshman class. They finished the tournament in third place, raising their rank from last year.

 

Seniors

The Seniors, still fresh off last year’s championship victory came out ready to repeat. They started off against the Freshman and quickly got up early on them. The Freshman refused to quit and mounted a last-second comeback. The Seniors got it together in the end and gave them a tough loss. They moved on to play the Sophomores in a championship set of three games.

 

Championship

The championship game was an intense one. The Seniors entered the first set of three fired up. The Seniors took down the Sophomores with ease led by Burke Griffin. In the second set, the Senior’s backups played. Seeing an opportunity, the Sophomore class struck back, beating down the Seniors to claim the second set of three. The third set had the audience on the edge of the seats as both teams fought hard to take home the victory. In the end, however, Burke proved to be too much as he spiked the ball countless times through the Sophomore’s lines. The Seniors took the final game, securing their spot as champions and repeating as first place winners. Senior Burke Griffin said, “It was great to win back to back championships. Both championships have been incredibly close and very exciting. It’s lucky to come out on top both times.” The Sophomores played well but it wasn’t enough as they landed in second place to end the tournament.