The McRoberts Strikers will be heavily favoured to win their third consecutive title when they host the Richmond Senior Girls Volleyball Championships, starting on Monday.
A fixture in the provincial AAA rankings all season, the No. 8 Strikers did not drop a set in rolling to 10 straight wins in league play. The run included a 3-0 victory over McMath back on Oct. 11. That was the Wildcats’ (9-1) lone loss — giving them the No. 2 seed for the eight-team tournament. Rounding out the field are Steveston-London (8-2), Richmond Christian (7-3), Hugh Boyd (5-5), Cambie (4-6), MacNeill (4-6) and Richmond High (4-6).
The semi-finals are slated for 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Tuesday. The championship match goes at 7 p.m. on Wednesday.
The Strikers will also be hosting the inaugural South Fraser AAA Zone Championships — starting Nov. 12 — that will determine provincial berths. They will be joined by McMath and Steveston-London in the five-team tournament.
The Wildcats will face Clayton Heights in the quarter-finals while Steveston-London takes on Salish. McRoberts receives a bye directly to the semi-finals. The tourney concludes with the title game on Nov. 14 at 8 p.m.
Meanwhile, Richmond Christian, Cambie and MacNeill will be headed to the South Fraser AA Championships next week that are being hosted by Southridge and Holy Cross in Surrey. The eight-team tourney offers two berths to provincials and a potential wild card spot to the third place finisher.
At the net…
The Strikers were crowned Richmond Junior Girls champions last week —handing McMath its first loss of the season in the final, 3-1.
Both schools will be joined by Cambie, Burnett and Richmond High at the 16-team South Fraser Championships, taking place at Pacific Academy and Southridge in Surrey, starting Monday.
Newly-crowned Richmond Juvenile Girls champion McMath will be at the South Fraser Grade 9 Championships at Earl Marriott where they will be joined by MacNeill and Steveston-London.
