The Class of 2019. The girls of the class are the 2017 Powerpuff Champions, and the boys are the 2017 Powerbuff Champions, but they didn’t stop there. Back for another set of wins, they entered their senior year with the same winning expectation.

  The second set of wins began with the Powderpuff 2018 game, which was won by the girls on October 5th.

  Then came November 20th, 2018. The senior players were Spencer Anderson, Sully Carr, Cole Francisco, Max Jones, Jack Maschler, Mikey Ortega, Brecan Saul, Duncan Schenk, Chandler Tuten, and Brayden Van Leliveld, while the junior players were Jared Brossman, Drew Gold, Will Hatfield, Jackson Mattingley, Max Skirkanich, Andrew Stefkovich, and Nate Swank. The two teams had the same thought in mind as they walked into the gym: a championship win.

  One aspect that divided the two teams was the element of coaching. The junior boys opted to have the girls varsity volleyball players, Megan Dunnigan and Juliana Azzarita. “The coaches helped us understand how to line up and what the rules of the positions were,” said Mattingley.    

  The senior boys this year decided to try a different path and self-coach during the practices, but senior varsity volleyball player, Sammy Rodriguez, coached the senior players during the game. “This year we didn’t really have a coaching staff since we wanted to be self-sufficient,” said Ortega.

  Different than last year, the game was played during an extended Tusky Time instead of FLEX. Because of this, the teams played one 25-point game and one extra set, until the end of the Tusky Time, instead of the three-set game like last year. “I liked the three-set game better because it was longer and more fun,” said Schenk.

  In addition to the change with scoring, each team faced difficulties throughout the game. “The most difficult part of the game was toward the end. We made mistakes and got mad at each other for it,” said Mattingley.

  Similar to the juniors, the seniors also faced scoring difficulties. “The most difficult part of the game was when we were down by five or six points and we couldn’t get into a rhythm,” said Ortega.

  As the game began, the juniors started off with an early lead. The senior and junior boys went back and forth, each gaining points. “We played strong in the first half, [but we] just lost the momentum,” said Brossman.

  As the players approached the end of the set, the seniors had developed a lead by a very small margin. “Once we got into our zone and started to play as a team we could not be stopped,” said Ortega.

  Then it was the game point. The seniors won the final point, and secured their second Powerbuff win with a final score of 25-21 and 15-8. The Tuscarora Class of 2019 players had done something no one had done before in Powerbuff history: they won both their junior and senior year. “It felt good to win both years. It seems like another piece of evidence to prove that we are the best class,” said Schenk.

  With the 2019 Class gone next year, the Class of 2020 players are far from done and are looking for redemption. “The goal for next year is to get more practice in and play a much better game and to beat the juniors,” said Mattingley. Brossman agreed with Mattingley, commenting that his goal was also to win the future senior game.

  In addition to being a student favorite event, as proved by the student section during the game, Powerbuff also serves as a fundraiser hosted by SCA. The event was non-profit and the cost of admission was either to pay $2 or to bring in two canned goods. The student section helped raise over $50 for Backpack Buddies and the canned goods were donated to Loudoun Hunger Relief.