by Joey Valadez
Congratulations to Run VLB, sponsored by Alaska Commercial Co. and Fox Air, for taking home their first Mud Championship title!
It was a hard fought battle for Run VLB, led by team Captain Andrew Gonzalez, whose team was knocked into consolation early forcing VLB to secure five straight victories, to include overcoming the daunting #1 seed, Hit Faced, not once, but TWICE in the championship match-up, earning them the gold!
Run VLB, was seeded 2nd going into the double elimination bracket and survived a total of 13 grueling matches on Saturday to secure their first Mud Championship Title, since the annual event began in 2018. Well done Andrew and the Run VLB entourage; Nelson Lliaban, Tomasina Nicolai, Mark Brew, Christiana Peter, Amber Chase, Racquel Slim, Maksii Charles, Kenny Doorman, and Anthony Gonzalez, on a well deserved victory!
Coming in at 2nd place was the #1 seed, Hit Faced, sponsored by Steve-o’s Rental’s and led by Captain Jess Laraux. Despite the large confident egos coming into the tournament, Hit Faced, seeking redemption from last year, suffered an all too familiar fate losing back to back finals matches, much like they did during 2023’s championship match-up against KMA. Hit Faced didn’t go down without a fight though, keeping both matches extremely close and losing by just a few points.
Kiss My Ace, who was plagued this year with key, missing players due to injuries, etc., got a taste of their first medal-less, mud event in seven years and was sent home empty-handed on Saturday with a 4th place finish.
Last minute entry and new mud team, Empire Spikes Back, led by Captain Kaitlin Andrew, brought home the bronze this year and proved themselves worthy by locking in as the 3rd seed going into the double elimination bracket and living up to all of Round Robin’s expectations.
Andrew, who played on a different mud team last year, made the bold decision to “MacGyver” her own team this year, which consisted of a few volleyball playing siblings, and was quickly recognized as a force to be reckoned with. Way to go Empire Spikes Back on quite an achievement! Hope to see you back next year.
Congratulations to all teams on your accomplishments and on yet another amazing and successful mud tournament! Thank you all team captains for putting up with me by enduring all the harassment of putting together a team, trying to collect entry fees and getting all waivers signed in time. It doesn’t always show but I’ve got so much appreciation and gratitude for your part in helping make these events so fun and memorable, each year.
B.V.E.S.A would like recognize all sponsors and give a special thanks to the Delta Discovery, Alaska Commercial Co., Uncommon Pizza, and of course the City of Bethel, especially Ed Flores and the guys down at the Port, for all their help every year getting our mud pits filled, we definitely couldn’t do it without all of you, so Thank You!
Can’t wait to do it again next year with hopefully similar weather! I think we may try to stick to this weekend in July for future Bethel mud volleyball tourneys just to help people plan ahead better. Would love to get at least 10 teams next year, if possible!
If anyone is interested in learning more about becoming a volunteer with the Bethel Fire Department please call (907) 543-2131.
Joey Valadez is a member of the Bethel Volunteer Emergency Services Association.
