A dominant era in city senior boys volleyball ended in style on Wednesday night for the Richmond Christian Eagles.
A second straight unbeaten season was completed with the Eagles producing a 3-0 win over the Richmond Colts. The No. 5 Road powerhouse has dropped just two sets in winning 21 straight matches against city opponents over the two-year run.
The Eagles cruised past MacNeill and Cambie to earn their berth in the championship match. The Colts’ run was far more dramatic, blanking Boyd in the quarter-finals then pulling off a five-set thriller against the provincially ranked and host Steveston-London Sharks.
Richmond High took the opening two sets in convincing fashion and the Sharks answered by winning the next two to extend the match to a final set which saw the Colts prevail 15-13.
The momentum from that big win carried over into the final as the Colts answered Richmond Christian point-for-point in the opening set. However, the Eagles eventually pulled out a 25-22 win and seized control of the match — led by Grade 12 standouts Elijah Kim and Jackson Campbell.
Sitting at No. 9 in the latest provincial 2A rankings, the Eagles will now look to defend their Lower Mainland Championship next week. They will host the opening round matches on Wednesday before the tournament shifts to Alpha Secondary in Burnaby for the playoff draw on Thursday.
The Colts and Sharks will also move onto the Lower Mainland 3A championships. Steveston-London rebounded from its loss to defeat Cambie in the third place match.
