Peach Fuzz Tournament: The Newest M-week Activity

By GANNON HANEVOLD

Moapa Valley Progress

The century-old Moapa Valley High School is often associated with tradition, and the school continues to thrive on tradition year after year. One of those annual customs is the long-awaited M-Week activities. M-Week is a week for students to celebrate school pride in the blue and gold, and the Pirates did so last week with a number of unique activities.

One new event brought to MVHS for M-Week 2017 was a men’s volleyball tournament; or as it was better known: “Peach Fuzz”.
Peach Fuzz was an open sign-up volleyball tournament for Pirate boys. It featured six different teams competing for the right to be called Peach Fuzz champions.

The teams were sorted into three teams of juniors and sophomores, and three teams of seniors and freshmen. A round robin tournament sorted the teams into seeds, and then tournament play began.
The competition was an absolute success with many teams getting fully involved in their games. This made for some fun entertainment for the onlookers.

The first team to book their spot in the final four came from the juniors and sophomores side: a team called “Too Legit to Hit”. “Too Legit to Hit” ran right through their competition on an undefeated tear to the championship game. In a best of three series, they swept their opponent with ease and looked unstoppable going into the title game.
The team was made up of Tyler Holmes, Israel Rubio, Garrett German, Federico Maglioli, Gustavo Moreno, Yadon Witsken, Ramiro Corrales, and Luke Bennett. It was coached by Shyanne Matheson, Shelbi Walker, and Dannika Gordon.

On the other side of the bracket, the competition was much tighter. The “Ace Kickers” took on the “Thunder Calves” in a back and forth game.
In the first set, the Ace Kickers barely edged out the Thunder Calves to jump out to an early set lead. Although, the Thunder Calves bounced back and defeated the last remaining team of seniors and freshmen to make for a championship game of all juniors and sophomores.
The Thunder Calves team was made up of Josh Lee, Isaah Fairchild, Tanner Johnson, Daxton Longman, Evan Conger, Jesse Robison, Kennen Staton, and Josh Cox. They were coached by Eden Whitmore and Hanna Mortensen.

Two days later, the two teams met for an exciting championship game. In the first set, things were neck and neck. Neither team could gain a real advantage until the very end.
Finally, it would be the Thunder Calves pulling ahead at the very end by a score of 25-23 to gain the advantage.
In the second set, facing a loss if they can’t win, ‘Too Legit to Hit’ found its rhythm. They were seemingly unstoppable as they forced a third set.
‘Too Legit to Hit’ would lead 14-7 in the third set when the Thunder Calves put together a comeback. With the score 14-11, and game point still holding up, Federico Maglioli was set up for a huge spike. That won the game for Too Legit to Hit.

Peach Fuzz was an exciting and innovative addition to the M-Week festivities. It is hopefully one that will stick around for years to come.