Three provincial berths will be on the line when the McRoberts Strikers host the Lower Mainland AAA Girls Volleyball Championships.
The eight-team tournament gets underway at 1 p.m. on Friday with pool play. The top six advance to Saturday’s playoff round with the first place finishers from each group locking up semi-final berths. The championship match takes place at 1:45 p.m.
Fresh off their impressive run at last week’s Richmond Championships, the Strikers are grouped with Crofton House, Prince of Wales and Rockridge. Crofton House is not only ranked sixth in the province but is hosting the upcoming B.C. “AAA” Championships. Should the Vancouver private school finish in the top three, the fourth place team will advance to the provincials. Fifth place would then be involved in a playoff next week for a wild card spot.
No. 1 ranked Little Flower Academy is the clear team to beat. Its pool group also includes McNair, Sutherland and Windsor.
As for the Strikers, they have an excellent chance of earning another B.C. berth after a dominating performance at the Richmond championships. They did not drop a set en route to the city title, including a 3-0 victory over host McMath Wildcats in last Wednesday’s title game.
The team includes: Chloe Mathews, Madeline Matthews, Kate Dee, Elsie Gonzalez, Jeanna Tang, Renee Tang, Maya alibudbud, Sarah Mori, Selena Herrera, Veronica Lin, Jacqueline Tyrer, Olivia Lin. They are coached by Patrick Wong and assistant Stephanie Kliewer.
McMath moves on to the Lower Mainland “AAAA” Championships, along with Steveston-London. The Sharks defeated MacNeill 3-1 in the third place game.
Meanwhile, newly-crowed Richmond senior boys champion Richmond Christian Eagles are looking to continue their impressive season at the Lower Mainland “AA” Championships in West Vancouver.
The province’s sixth ranked team capped an unbeaten run in Richmond with a win over McMath in last Thursday’s final. The Eagles are favoured to add the Mainland title with Charles Tupper expected to be their biggest challenger.
The Eagles also took city junior boys honours by outlasting Burnett 3-2 in the final.
