By Clara Moffitt

Last week, on the Tempe Prep campus, allies turned enemies, and friends pitted against each other. In preparation for the Winter Formal dance on Feb. 29, TPA spirit on campus has been alive with spirit week and, of course, the Powder Puff Volleyball Game. This game became a tradition last year after the Powder Puff Football Game as a chance for high school boys, underclassmen versus upperclassmen, to go against each other in a volleyball match.

In last year’s game the underclassmen beat the upperclassmen in a sweeping win. This victory gave last year’s sophomores and this year’s juniors a lot of earned confidence. However, in this year’s game the current underclassmen rose to the occasion and won the Powder Puff game.

One of the underclassmen’s many star players, Diego Foster, says about their victory, “I feel pretty good, we definitely had the most energy out of both teams.” The audience definitely saw that energy too. The underclassmen walked onto the court with matching T-Shirts and several hours of practice as a team together. Diego explains that they wanted each player at all the practices and that practice helped secure their victory. Freshman Connor Clark says, “We played what we were taught in practice.” But, he also adds that the team’s “positive attitudes” led them to their unexpected win.

Though the freshmen and sophomores emerged the winners of the Powder Puff game, both teams had awesome plays, high jumps, and powerful spikes. This led to a close match, the first set ending with a score of 25 to 21 favoring the underclassmen.

At the end of the day, though, friendships were restored as both teams congratulated the other and the upperclassmen boys even stayed to cheer for the match with the varsity girls volleyball team. After the game, Hayden Sampson said, “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em,” and Evan Hackett said, “I think the underclassmen played really well!”

The night ended with a win from our Lady Knights volleyball team but we are so grateful for their help in coaching both teams of boys and for helping to organize such a fun and spirit-filled night!