Just a few weeks after winning the Powderpuff game, an all-girls flag football game, Diamond Bar High School’s junior class came out on top once again in the first annual Powderbuff game. The juniors and seniors fought head to head for the full five rounds of volleyball, before the juniors finally pulled ahead and won the game with a score of 3-2.

The Powderbuff game, designed to be the boy’s version of the Powderpuff game, pitted junior football players against senior players. Each team had around a week to work with their student coaches before the game, which was supervised by volleyball coach Jeff Weihart. Juniors Jenna Canova, Himani Shah, Morgan Dempsey, and Tricia Byerrum coached the juniors, while a group of eight senior girls, led by senior Natalie Kisor, helped the seniors.

“We all had a lot of fun doing it. It seemed a little last minute in the beginning because of only one week of practicing, but it was worth it,” junior Kyle Yada said via Facebook.
The juniors and seniors proved to be worthy competitors for each other, as the game remained very close throughout the match. The juniors won the first round, but the seniors fought back, winning the next two sets. By the end of the fourth round, the score was tied 2-2.

Prior to the game, the juniors developed a simple strategy: get the ball over the net and don’t make simple mistakes. They also made communication a top priority and always tried to get to ball to their key player, Bruno Gamboa. However, they couldn’t plan much further because they didn’t know what to expect.
Communication was also at the root of the seniors’ strategy. They focused on knowing where the ball was at all times and making sure everyone knew where it would be set.
“I think we played a really good game. Even though we lost we had a lot of great plays for each other and made it work with whoever was in. The juniors played really well too,” senior Jason Kim said.

The last round of the game went up to 15 points, instead of the usual 25, because the two teams were tied at 14-14. Because of the circumstances, a team would have to lead by two points to win. Gamboa scored the final point, winning the game for the juniors.