Though volleyball season is long over, the Dartmouth High gym was filled with the sounds of spikes, sets and serves on Tuesday night.

The Dartmouth High National Honors Society held a charity volleyball tournament in the high school gym on March 15 to benefit the organization Prevent Child Abuse America.

The annual tradition came back this year after over a year away. It was canceled in 2020 due to Covid and was postponed again from fall to spring this year in hopes that it would give the omicron wave time to recede.

“So it worked out really well,” said National Honors Society adviser Marcia Vieira.

Vieira and her co-adviser, Lauren Enoksen, said they were excited to have the tournament back as it is a valuable fundraiser as well as a fun tradition. But they said that credit for the event had to be given to the honors society students who put it all together.

Randi Medeiros, co-president of Dartmouth High’s National Honors Society, said that the group split into committees to plan the fundraiser, dividing the responsibilities to ensure everything got done and everyone got to pitch in.

“It’s so nice to have everyone back — it’s even better than we expected,” she said. “It’s so great to have everything back to normal.”

Medeiros said the event had already raised $1,500 by the time the tournament began and the group hoped to have over $2,000 by the end of the night.

In addition to an $8 entry fee for each player, the honors society students also held a bake sale and raffle, sold pizza, and partnered with local business sponsors to maximize their fundraising potential.

In total, 20 teams competed at the tournament, made up mostly of students and teachers from Dartmouth schools with a few groups visiting from other area schools.

Appropriately, the single elimination event was represented on a giant “bracket” posted on the wall of the gym, tracking the teams from the prelims to the final “March Madness style.”

Among the many creatively named teams were: the Darty Dogs, the Above Average Joes, Kiss My Ace, and the Grumpy Old Men +1 — the 2019 defending champs made up of Dartmouth High teachers.

As the tournament progressed, teams were slowly whittled away until only two were left: the Grumpy Old Men +1 and the Above Average Joes, who had the tournament-maximum of two varsity volleyball players on their team.

Having a teacher team and a mostly-senior team in the final was a great turn of events, Medeiros said, because Dartmouth has a spirited student-teacher rivalry.

While all games leading to the last game were single-elimination, the final was played as a best-of-three, first to 21 match.

In the first game, the Above Average Joes went ahead quickly, going ahead 20-10 before almost allowing the teachers to make a comeback.

In the second game, the roles were reversed as the teachers took a commanding lead first. But the Above Average Joes weren’t finished. They showcased their above-average talent as they inched their way back into the game, point by point.

When the score reached 21-21, spectators were on their feet cheering for students to complete their comeback — and they were not disappointed.

In a miraculous final push, the Above Average Joes scored two more points and won the match, securing their bragging rights for the rest of the year.

But in the end, the real winner was Prevent Child Abuse America as the event beat its fundraising goal and was able to donate $2,500 to the charity.