On March 20th at 6:00 p.m., the Jacked Juniors and Shredded Seniors will take the court in Punxsutawney Area High School’s 4th Annual Powder Buff Volleyball Game. This game is one full of fun, school spirit, and competitiveness between the two teams. Additionally, all of the proceeds from this event will go to support local animal shelters.

The game is played by boys at Punxsutawney Area High School, and coached by the school’s varsity girls volleyball players. They also have separate cheer teams, made up of junior and senior girls.

The Shredded Seniors team includes Dawson Neufeld, Zach Dinger, Alex Momyer, Ben Gifford, Jake Henretta, Ryen Heigley, Zeke Bennett, Josh Tyger, Isaac Greenblatt, Brice Rowan, Carter Savage, Charles Connell, Easton Gula, Logan Polippo, Grant Miller, Zack Schiel, Jake Sikora, Justin Miller, Logan Zeitler, Owen Wood, and Jared Meeks. They are coached by Mr. Shenkle, Maisie Eberhart, Kaylee Guidice, Lexi Poole, Karli Young, Sydney Hoffman, and Morgan Riggie. The senior cheerleaders include Chariti Blair, Kaylee Blair, Sydnee Haines, Catherine Fuller, Olivia Bish, and Kaitlin Shaffer.

The Jacked Juniors team consists of Evan Mohney, Kolton Koppenhaver, Jimmie Neese, Garrett Bartlebaugh, David Kunselman, Matt Grusky, Michael Setree, Mason Nesbitt, Landon Martz, Aiden Cameron, Noah Weaver, Cooper Hallman, Dysen Gould, Sawyer Hall, Noah Greenblatt, Dominic Johns, Alex Deppen, Anthony Gould, Anson Cribbs, and Zach Presloid. They are coached by Mr. Hospodar, Ciara Toven, Bella Gigliotti, Emily Dobbins, Danielle Griebel, Kylie Diem, and Zoey Hoover. The junior cheerleaders are Mikayla Harris, Abagail Blair, Rylee Agnello, Olivia London, Eve Bennett, Danika Brocious, Kendall Couser, Kylee Smith, Natalie Miller, Taylor Weaver, Kelsey Perry, Jacinda Gigliotti, Laci Poole, Audrey Johnson, and Isabella Kunselman.

The Powder Buff Volleyball Game is one way Punxsutawney keeps its student’s spirits high during a tough time of the year.

“It gives me something to enjoy because right now everyone is stressed with testing, scholarships, variety show, spring sports, and school in general,” senior coach Kaylee Guidice said.

The rules for this game are those of traditional volleyball with the nets at the standard men’s height. However, the referees aren’t as strict when it comes to penalties and substitutions, which is one of the goals for the coaches this year.

“We definitely want to work on subbing people in more effectively and we want to run the practices better as well,” Guidice said.

For the players, this game is an opportunity to compete, but also have fun and enjoy the last bit of the school year.

“I feel that the senior team has a huge height advantage, other than that, I think most of us suck at volleyball so that should be fun,” junior player Noah Greenblatt said.

Not only is this game about competition, but it’s also a great chance for the seniors to come together and do something fun before they graduate in May.

“It makes the end of the year fun and gives us something to do together before high school is over,” senior player Jake Henretta said.

There are many people from teachers to community members and companies that make this game possible. Fans are welcome to support the players, animal shelters, and community as a whole at the Punxsutawney Area High School on March 20th at 6:00 p.m.