Sets on the Beach won Tri Congress’s second annual Powderbuff Tournament, held at Canton High School on March 7, 2025, beating last year’s winner, Dude Perfect.

The tournament utilized a double-elimination bracket, where each match was won by the first team to reach 11 points.

Last year, Sets on the Beach did not have the same success in the Powderbuff Tournament. Canton senior and team captain Patrick Warner said they lost their first two games and were eliminated from the tournament.

The Sets on the Beach victory has been “months in the making,” said Warner. “I would say going to open gyms, fun like that, even though we weren’t [practicing] as a team together, [we were] just trying to get better.”

Warner also says that their coaches, Canton seniors Ryley Frank and Zaria Rowe-Odum, contributed “greatly” to their success by being “uplifting” during the tournament.

While the on-field competition is undoubtedly a highlight, Canton junior Myah Salah, vice president of Canton Congress, said that Canton Congress did most of the preparation for the event and were helped by Salem Congress and Plymouth Congress with volunteering at the event.

The Tri Congress held the Powderbuff Tournament for the first time in 2024. “So we just thought that we had no involvement we host in the springtime. We didn’t really have that event that people like going to, and I feel this event was able to create a competitive atmosphere while still having the fun and excitement of like, the Powderpuff that NHS does,” said Salah.

“We [held Powderbuff] again this year because we thought it was really successful last year, which is kind of a good way to get their last hoorah, especially for the seniors,” said Salah.

Canton seniors Anna Hamilton and Megan Marschak, varsity volleyball players for Canton, both volunteered to be up referees, calling points while standing on the platforms next to the nets.

“I like watching volleyball. Men’s volleyball is fun to watch, and you know, I just want to be part of it,” said Marschak.

During some of the matches, Hamilton and Marschak had to make game-deciding calls and sometimes got challenged by the players. “I think not everyone knew the rules for volleyball,” said Marschak, “so they were questioning some things I [called], but overall, I [knew] they didn’t really mean the harm.”

Hamilton said that one rule that some of the boys didn’t know was that they couldn’t lift the ball, an action where a player’s hand remains in contact with the ball for too long, resulting in what looks like a carry of the ball.

Coming in late April, look out for the Powderpuff that the NHS hosts, where junior and senior girls go against each other in a game of flag football.