In the end, the junior class brought the house down. The field house was filled with cheering and plenty of color-coordinating neon shirts as four teams took the floor and lowered the nets to go head-to-head for the championship of the annual Spike-it-Up volleyball tournament.  This year’s $5 per person event proceeds benefited Special Olympics and was held in the Field House at 7 pm Wednesday, February 1, of Court-warming week.

Starting a couple weeks before, students signed up to compete with other members of their graduating class on a single team. Teams varied in size and participants varied in skill, but the Court-warming week tradition brought some intense and energetic competition between the classes.

  In round one, the junior team faced the freshmen and the senior team rivaled the sophomores. The freshmen fell to the juniors in a close three-set nail-biter and the green-clad seniors fell to the sophomores.

  “It was expected for the juniors to win so that was good, but it was kind of upsetting that the sophomores beat the seniors because the seniors and juniors were supposed to play each other,” junior Annie Price said.

  Members from the junior and sophomore teams were determined to get to the championship round this year, recalling the tough loss in the first round the year before.

  “We were all really excited because last year and the year before that, we never broke into the final game,” Price said. “We finally made it to the final game so we were all really excited about that.”

  In the championship, the juniors were defeated by the sophomores in a straight two set victory. The sophomores credited their win to solid teamwork.

  “It was fun coming together as a team and working together to come out with a win,” sophomore Cameron Duello said.