Meet Christian Janke. He’s a Junior, stands at 6-foot-4, and at the end of April, was crowned the all-tournament MVP at the boys’ varsity volleyball Scripps Ranch Tournament.

This is Janke’s third year playing volleyball for both Sage Creek and club. Prior to playing on JV his freshman year, he had no experience serving it up on the court. Going into the games, Janke didn’t just want to win — he knew that it was absolutely necessary that his team took the tournament for the win.

“I think we knew we had to win ‘cause we were in a kinda tough spot with our rankings for [division] II, so we wanted to get as high as we possibly could. We knew that if we won every game we could get into the top two for division II,” Janke explained. “I knew we could win and I knew we just had to play well in every game.”

And they did. The boys varsity team played seven games in just two days, April 28 and 29, and beat every team, adding to their standing 15-game win streak. As Janke pointed out, playing that many games in such a short span of time was nothing short of exhausting. The team, however, didn’t let this deter them as they battled through their seventh and final game of the tournament.

“We were kind of down on energy; it was the seventh game in two days, and we were tired at that point, and we really needed a spark to finish that game up.” Janke said. “[Opposite hitter] Evan Marks came in, got a kill, got everyone super hyped up, and I think that really put us over the top.”

Here are the scores for all seven games:

Scripps Ranch Tournament

4/28  v. Hoover (W) 2-0

4/28 v. Escondido (W) 2-0

4/28 v. Escondido Charter (W) 2-0

4/29 v. Mt. Carmel (W) 2-1

4/29 v. Del Norte (W) 2-0

4/29 v. Westview (W) 2-0

4/29 v. Vista Murrieta (W) 2-1

After nailing seven games in a row, the Bobcats Varsity Boys’ Volleyball was named the winning team of the Scripps Ranch Tournament.

“We won the championship, and after the game they asked the two teams of the championship to sit down; they were gonna crown the all-tournament team players,” Janke explained. “And two players on my team got named to the all-tournament team players, Ryan Yates (outside hitter) and Christian Griego (setter).”

He might have come in expecting a win alongside his teammates, but what Janke was not expecting was to be crowned as the all-tournament MVP.

“I don’t think I even knew [MVP] was a thing in that tournament, but it was cool to be recognized for [my] hard work,” Janke expressed. When asked how it felt to champion as the team’s MVP for the tournament, his humble response was that “it felt good.”

After the successful weekend tournament, taking all seven games and being crowned all-tournament MVP, Janke shared his win with the rest of his team.

“It was all my teammates. They’re the ones who gave it to me. They were the ones to help me get there.”