A pair of rare losses last month served as a catalyst for the Force Volleyball Club as they were crowned national champions over the weekend.

The 18U club volleyball program had gone nearly four years between losses with their last defeat coming in the 14U Canadian national club championship volleyball.

But at the club provincial championships last month, at the hands of their 91原创 rivals, the Fraser Valley Volleyball Club.

鈥淚 think losing was pretty motivating for us,鈥� said Ryan Hofer, who coaches Force alongside Dan Johnson.

鈥淚n the last two weeks, going into the national championships, those were the best practices I have seen in our gym.鈥�

鈥淎t the time, it hurt a lot,鈥� admitted Johnson. 鈥淏ut it was nice that it wasn鈥檛 the last game of the year for them. I think they saw it as a blessing as a chance to finish off strong. They didn鈥檛 want that feeling again.鈥�

鈥淲inning provincials and winning nationals were both huge goals we had on our agenda,鈥� he added.

鈥淲e didn鈥檛 do one, but that鈥檚 OK because nationals was our bigger goal.鈥�

Force and the FVVC were in Saskatoon over the weekend for the 18U club national championships at the Henk Ryus Soccer Centre.

Both teams were unbeaten in the preliminary round and Force went 3-0 in power pool play while FVVC was 2-1.

The teams then found themselves on the opposite side of the draw for the playoff round.

FVVC lost in the round of 16 to Ontario鈥檚 Pakmen Gold to end their championship dreams.

In the quarter-finals, Force drew Canucks Dinos and lost the first set of the best-of-three match 25-15.

鈥淭hey (Canuck Dinos) smoked us the first set, it wasn鈥檛 even close; I thought we were done,鈥� Hofer said about the quarter-finals.

鈥淭he guys just refused to give up, they just kept fighting and battling away.鈥�

They won 25-19 to stay alive and the third set 15-9.

They won the semifinal round 2-0 over FOG Black and drew Pakmen Gold 鈥� the team which beat their 91原创 rivals 鈥� in the gold medal match.

And again, the Force lost the first set, 25-15, before rallying to stay alive with a 25-21 win. The third set went the distance and Force prevailed 16-14.

鈥淥ur guys were just able to fight back and adjust and come back to win,鈥� Johnson said. 鈥淚t was quite a ride, a lot of fun.鈥�

鈥淲e weren鈥檛 the most physical team there 鈥� we didn鈥檛 jump the highest 鈥� but this team has incredible control and composure,鈥� Hofer said.

鈥淚n so many games we were down and these guys would not give up. They are resilient and they can fight.鈥�

鈥淲e wanted them to leave this tournament with no regrets 鈥� and we wanted them to play free and fearless 鈥� that was our phrase for the weekend,鈥� he added.

Brodie Hofer was named most valuable player while Zechariah Johnson and Phil Stahl earned all-star honours.

The team is made up of players from 91原创, Abbotsford and Surrey.