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Eagles fifth at provincials

Richmond Christian senior boys volleyball team caps outstanding season with fine showing in Langley
volleyball
The Richmond Christian Eagles bounced back from a quarter-final loss to Prince George's Duchess Park to finish fifth at the B.C. "AA" Boys Volleyball Championships, held at the Langley Events Centre.

The Richmond Christian Eagles were a model of consistency all season and they proved it one final time at the B.C. “AA” Championships.

The senior boys volleyball team capped one of the best seasons in school history with a fifth place finish after a straight set (25-17, 25-23) over Okanagan champion and No. 3 seed George Elliott Coyotes from Lake Country.

It was only by a mere three students the Eagles were nudged up to the “AA” tier this season yet they hardly looked out of place against larger schools. They earned provincial ranking recognition in the early going after back-to-back bronze medal finishes at tournaments hosted by Douglas College and UBC. Both events also featured plenty of top “AAA” teams as well.

Richmond Christian went on to dominate local play — dropping just one set all season en route to capturing the city championship. The domination continued at the Lower Mainland Tournament, earning the Eagles the No. 5 seed for the 16-team provincial tourney.

The Eagles went 2-1 in power pool seeding play with wins over Prince Charles (25-12, 25-21) and College Heights (25-22, 25-23) while falling to MEI (29-31, 15-25). That resulted in a round of 16 match-up with Charles Tupper which was a repeat of the Lower Mainland final played two weeks earlier.

Richmond Christian cruised to a three-set (25-16, 25-16, 25-22) victory — setting the stage for Thursday night’s quarter-final date with Duchess Park. The highly-touted Prince George school entered the tournament ranked No. 2 in B.C. but slipped to the fourth seed after going 0-3 in power pool play. However, they were back in top form for the championship round in what proved to be a tough match-up for the Eagles.

Led by towering power hitters Cody Boulding (6-foot-5) and Ryan Hampe (6-foot-6), Duchess Park dominated at the net from start to finish and defeated the Eagles in three straight (25-12, 25-16, 25-12).

The boys regrouped for consolation play on Friday, avenging an earlier loss to MEI (25-17, 25-12) to earn the chance to face George Elliot.

Grade 11 standout Elijah Kim, who earlier took Lower Mainland MVP honours, was named to the Tournament Second All-Star Team.

The Eagles roster also featured Jackson Campbell, Shawn Chan, Stanley Cen, Anthony Dy Ning, Zachary Lee, Nathan Louie, Terence Moy, Matthew Penner, Leo Tam, Derek Wu, Alan Yang and Jason Zhai.

The boys were coached by Connor Ewert with assistants Anthony Beutel and Angela Wilson.

Meanwhile, the McRoberts Strikers capped a fine season with 16th place finish at the B.C. “AAA” Girls Volleyball Championships in Vancouver.

Losing a number of key players to graduation, the Strikers were hardly a lock to prevail in the Richmond playoffs, never mind earning a B.C. berth. Yet, the girls played their best volleyball of the season down the stretch to repeat as city champs then placed third at the Lower Mainland playoffs.

The Strikers fell to Carhi (25-15, 25-16, 25-15) in the round of 16, then closed out the tournament against Langley (18-25, 23-25), LV Rogers (24-26, 23-25) and Dawson Creek (25-17, 20-25, 13-15).