The 31st annual FOOTEREST Volleyball Tournament made for another volleyball-filled weekend at Bettum’s Idlewood Family Campground in Lewis Run.
The tournament, held under ideal weather conditions Saturday and Sunday, saw 27 teams from four states. Team “Bangers & Co.” emerged victorious, taking top honors.
The co-ed tournament had three divisions: Open, Power and Semi-power.
The tournament is held with all teams playing in round robin pool play Saturday from 9:30 a.m. until 6:30 p.m.
A bonus two-on-two tournament was squeezed in Saturday evening. The double elimination play for the 6-on-6 teams was run all day Sunday, winding down about 6:30 p.m.
There were nine Open division teams (Division “AA”) playing in the round robin play Saturday with team “Bangers & Co.”, of Conneautville, coming out on top of their division with a record of 15-1.
The Power division (Division “A”) had 11 teams with team “Bison’s,” of Akron, New York, rounding out their day on top with a record of 18-2.
The Semi-Power division (Division “B”), with seven teams, and team “Free Pass’” of Wellsboro clinched their division with a record of 11-1.
The 2-on-2 games started Saturday afternoon with two men’s teams and four women’s teams battling for the bragging rights to the additional endurance event held after the 6-on-6 play.
The men’s 2-on-2 was captured by Owen Wienczkowski (Waterford) & Nick Panochko (Erie), who beating out Aaron Seigh (Johnstown) and Glenn Frank (Lilly) after holding them off to post an undefeated streak, ending with the win.
The women’s 2-on-2 saw Moo Pastva (Johnstown) and Jayce Fleming (Burnside) sweep through the winner’s bracket to beat out Markie John and C. J. Sawatis (Cattauragus, Seneca Nation, New York) in order to capture the title for the women.
Sunday’s 6-on-6, double elimination game play began around 10 a.m. and saw nine Open teams, 11 Power teams and seven Semi-power teams square off.
At the day’s end, we saw the Semi-Power division controlled by team “Free Pass,” who rode thru the day undefeated to the end of the double elimination, beating out team “Swingin’ & Diggin’ ” (Bradford) in order to claim first place in their division for the tournament.
The Power Division successfully was controlled by team “Bisons,” who traveled through to the winner’s bracket beating out team “Volleylamas” (Eden, New York).
The Open Division was very exciting when team “Bangers & Co.” walked all the way through the winner’s bracket undefeated for the win. “Paper Planes” handed team “Goose” the losses they needed to be sent home in second place.
Bangers & Co. gained the ultimate bragging rights of the best of the best for the weekend and became the team to beat in 2023 at the 32nd annual Footerest Volleyball Tournament.
The 32nd anniversary of the event will be held on July 8-9, 2023. Proceeds from the event benefit the Evergreen Elm Activities fund.
