McRoberts Strikers and Richmond Christian Eagles have put themselves in excellent positions to defend their Richmond senior volleyball championships.
The city playoffs got underway Thursday night the Strikers and Eagles are the teams to beat in their respective leagues.
McRoberts rolled through league play with a 10-0 record and the hosts opened the girls championship with a 3-0 win over RC Palmer. Their strongest challenge is expected to come from the Steveston-London Sharks who were right behind the Strikers in the final standings with a 9-1 record and defeated Burnett 3-0 in the quarter-finals.
The Strikers will take on Richmond Christian in the semi-finals on Monday (7 p.m.) while the Sharks will meet Boyd at 5 p.m. The Trojans advanced with a 3-0 win over McMath while the Eagles defeated MacNeill 3-1.
The championship match takes place on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Meanwhile, the Eagles will be looking to defend their boys city with the host team expected to be the biggest threat.
Richmond Christian rolled to eight straight victories including a 3-1 triumph over runner-up Steveston-London two weeks ago in the “Shark Tank.” Richmond Christian is No. 8 in the latest provincial rankings among “AA” schools, while the Sharks are at No. 12 in the “AAA” tier.
The Eagles opened the playoffs with a 3-0 victory over MacNeill while the Sharks took care of Burnett by the same score.
Steveston-London will play Richmond High on Monday at 5 p.m. Richmond Christian and Cambie follow at 7 p.m. The Crusaders advanced with a 3-0 victory over McRoberts while the Colts swept Boyd.
The boys final also takes place on Wednesday at Steveston-London.
The four-team city junior boys tournament concludes with the final today(5 p.m.) at Richmond Christian. McRoberts (8-0) and the host Eagles (5-2) are the favourites.
In junior girls, the McMath Wildcats (9-0) will be the team to beat at Cambie Secondary starting on Monday but it’s shaping up to be a competitive tournament. Steveston-London (7-1), McRoberts (6-2), Richmond High (5-3) and Cambie (5-4) are all considered contenders.
The semi-finals take place on Tuesday (3:30 p.m. and 5 p.m.) with the final slated for next Friday (Nov. 9) at 5 p.m.
Burnett and MacNeill are hosting the juvenile and bantam girls tournaments respectively. The finals for each takes place at Nov. 9 at 5 p.m.
