After steamrolling their way through the Richmond Senior Girls Volleyball League, the McRoberts Strikers will be looking to establish themselves as a serious provincial medal contender this week.
The Strikers are at the Lower Mainland “AAA” Championships where the province’s fifth ranked team are a solid bet to earn one of three B.C. berths that will be on the line at Little Flower Academy.
McRoberts repeated as Richmond champions in convincing fashion — not dropping a set all season to city opponents — including a 3-0 win Friday night over Richmond Christian. The Eagles are no slouch either, currently ranked No. 4 at the provincial “A” level.
The dominating performance is further evidence of the progress made by this senior loaded squad that placed 16th at the provincials a year ago.
“They have already surpassed my expectations,” said veteran coach Trish Nicholson. “They have done all the things that you need to do to play more as a team. The neat thing is they have done it on their own and it has nothing to do with me. This is a much more bonded group.
“All I do is keep reminding (our Grade 12s) it’s the last time they will be doing this or that, like the Richmond final. They don’t want to hear it because they don’t want it to end.”
The Strikers have captured three tournaments this season — Capilano, Timberline and Burnaby South — and are certainly a threat to add more hardware. Their biggest obstacle in Vancouver this week should come from host LFA, who were ranked No. 4 in B.C. beforeAC being surprised by Crofton House in the independent playoffs. Arygle is expected to be the biggest challenge from the North Shore.
“We are certainly a better team than we were last year going into it,” added Nicholson. “The top three go (to provincials) but you want to be the highest seed possible to have a better draw.”
The B.C. championships take place two weeks from now in Vernon.
