This past Thursday, Mar. 31, our student body was treated to some volleyball matches courtesy of Cy Ranch junior and senior boys. The upperclassmen took to the courts to showcase their skills that they had practiced so hard to master in the school’s annual King of the Court competition.

These games serve as a fundraiser for the after-prom Mustangs After Nights End (MANE) Event. Players contributed 30 dollars to play in the games, while parents and students paid three and two dollars apiece. The volleyball players got in for free, though, as they served as coaches for the teams.

Coaching began from the moment that teams were revealed as the squads had weeks to perfect their game. Teams even had the chance to scrimmage other teams the day before the tournament at open gym.

“Our team didn’t take advantage of the practices which made me nervous about our tournament games,” said senior Luke Cusack.

This year the competition saw 12 teams hoping to be named “Kings of the Court.” These 12 teams were split into four pools in order to determine seeding for bracket play. Pool A featured the Notorious D.I.G. coached by Demi McInnis, the Tropical Bums coached by Hailey Peters, and Team Martin coached by Alli Hymel and Hannah Teter.

How I Set Your Mother coached by Bree Edwards, MOB coached by Alexis Warren, and Pound Dawgs coached by Sarah Carman made up pool B. Pool C was comprised of The Avocados coached by Helen Le, the Safe Sets coached by  Brooke Rasmussen, and one of the annual faculty teams who named themselves the STAFF Infection. Our fourth and final pool included the Blocka Flocka Flames coached by Kayla Bashkatova, Deez Nets coached by Bailey Mulder, and another team comprised of Cy Ranch teachers named TEACH Me How to Diggie.

Excitement and chatter filled the two enormous gyms, but the noise quickly died down when the matches began. Bracket play kicked off promptly at 5 P.M. as both gyms had spectators scattered across the four courts. The only audible noises were the volleyball being hit and the crowd cheering after every point.

“I tried to be as loud as I could to support my friends,” junior Cecero Ramirez said.

After two and a half hours of action-packed volleyball, bracket play began with the two top teams from each pool going to the gold bracket and the remaining team playing in the silver. There was a lot more on the line for each team because one loss meant that they would be out. It was clear that the teams kicked it up a notch as there were plenty of close games.

A couple more hours passed and we arrived at the championship game for the gold bracket. This game would determine the real Kings of the Court. The match-up pitted How I Set Your Mother, an all-senior team, against the all-junior Notorious D.I.G. It was a great game to close the tournament as the juniors took the crown.

The King of the Court tournament was a hit as it raised plenty of money for MANE event. It provided entertainment for all of the spectators and the smiles on the players’ faces showed that they had a fun-filled night.