The Yale Lions and Abbotsford Christian School Knights senior boys volleyball teams both earned silver at the recent B.C. high school volleyball provincials over the weekend.
Yale entered the AAA tournament, which was held in Victoria, as the two-time Eastern Valley Athletic Association champions and defeated Seaquam 3-0 in the tournament quarterfinal on Friday (Dec. 1).
That win advanced Yale to the semi-final later that day and they qualified for the provincial final with a 3-1 win over Kitsilano.
Those wins set up the provincial final on Saturday (Dec. 2) against Kelowna, but the Lions dropped the title game 3-1. The second place finish is the best finish ever for the school in the senior boys division. They finished 15th at the 2022 provincials.
Great seasons. Sr boys finish with the AAA silver at BC’s and the girls get the bronze at the AAAA girls BC’s. Best ever finish for the school. Boys and girls sports thriving at our school! Now on to BBall and wrestling. @AbbyNews @BenLypka @AbbotsfordSD pic.twitter.com/fBp44s1akS
— Doug Primrose (@djprimrose) December 3, 2023
Meanwhile over at the Langley Events Centre, the ACS Knights got hot in the elimination round and rode that streak all the way to the 2A provincial final.
The Knights finished 1-2 in round robin play and then took down their crosstown rivals the MEI Eagles in the quarterfinal on Thursday (Nov. 30). They went on to defeat Langley Christian 3-2 on Saturday (Dec. 1), but were then narrowly defeated 3-2 by South Kamloops on Saturday.
It’s the first AA medal for the ACS senior boys team since 2019 when they won bronze. The school also won gold in 2018 and silver in 2017. The program competed in A in 2021 and captured gold.
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After falling to the Knights, MEI defeated Victoria High on Friday and Surrey Christian on Saturday to finish fifth in the province.
Yale also captured a bronze in AAAA senior girls provincial competition, which occurred in Delta.
The Lions defeated Seaquam in the quarterfinal round on Friday, but then fell to the eventual provincial champion Kelowna team in the semi-final later that day. Yale bounced back with a win over South Delta on Saturday to take home bronze.
The third place finish is the best in school history for the senior girls team.
The W.J. Mouat Hawks also competed in the AAAA tournament and placed 10th.
Meanwhile, the ACS Knights senior girls team competed in the AA provincial tournament in West Vancouver and finished seventh.
For more details on all the tournaments, visit bcschoolsports.ca.