By Gary Ahuja
Langley Event Centre
LANGLEY — While the Triple A draw here at the B.C. Secondary Schools senior girls volleyball championships has stuck to form with the top four seeds all remaining alive, the same can’t be said for a Quad A draw which has seen its share of upsets.
After two days of play at the Langley Events Centre, the No. 5 Handsworth Royals of North Vancouver, and Surrey’s No. 8 Lord Tweedsmuir Panthers have each crashed the party and will take part Saturday’s Final Four provincial semifinals.
The Royals are set to face the top-seed Kelowna Owls while the Panthers get the second-ranked Lord Byng Grey Ghosts of Vancouver in matches set for dual 11 a.m. first serves.
The Triple A Final Four draw features Vancouver’s No. 1 Little Flower Academy Angels against Vernon’s No. 4 W.L Seaton Sonics, and Campbell River’s No. 2 Carihi Tyees against Fort St. John’s No. 3 Dawson Creek Penguins. Both matches begin at 9 a.m.
TRIPLE A
The Little Flower Academy Angels swept both their Sweet 16 and quarterfinal matches, taking out Prince Rupert’s Charles Hays Rainmakers (25-9, 25-9, 25-15) and Richmond R.A. McMath Wildcats (25-15, 25-17, 25-11).
W.L. Seaton won 3-1 (21-25,25-13,25-17,25-20) over the Hugh McRoberts Strikers of Richmond, then won 3-0 (25-15, 25-15, 25-20) win over Kelowna’s Okanagan Mission Huskies.
The third-seed Dawson Creek Penguins did not drop a set on Friday with a 3-0 (25-11,25-10,25-13) over the Stelly’s Stingers and 3-0 (25-17,25-17,25-9) against the Vernon Panthers.
And the Carihi Tyees also rolled to back-to-back 3-0 victories over Surrey’s Salish Wolves (25-16,25-14,25-12) and Prince George’s Duchess Park Condors (25-20,25-19,25-21).
QUAD A
The Kelowna Owls won 3-0 (25-13,25-15,25-9) over the Terry Fox Ravens in the round of 16 and followed that up with another 3-0 (25-23,25-12,25-20) victory over the Mission Roadrunners in the quarterfinals.
Their semifinal opponent, the fifth-ranked Handsworth Royals, upset the No. 4 Semiahmoo Totems of Surrey 3-1 (25-23,8-25,25-23,26-24). The Royals defeated North Delta’s Seaquam Seahawks 3-0 (25-16,25-23,25-15) in the round of 16.
Lord Tweedsmuir won 3-0 (25-14,25-17,25-16) over the Burnaby Central Wildcats before a 3-1 (25-8,25-11,24-26,25-20) win over PoCo’s Riverside Rapids to earn their spot in the final four.
And the second-ranked Lord Byng Grey Ghosts posted back-to-back 3-1 wins over a pair of Victoria schools. The Ghosts beat the Oak Bay Breakers (22-25,25-16,25-19,25-18) and the Claremont Spartans (25-20,25-23,20-25,25-10).
