Condors, Cougars battling for B.C. bronze
Prince George is guaranteed a medal at the double-A boys volleyball provincial championship in Langley.
Either the Duchess Park Condors or College Heights Cougars will come home with bronze.
That’s not what either team envisioned it Friday afternoon when they stepped out on the court at Langley Events Centre.
The No. 2-ranked Condors were foiled by their nemesis, the Langley Christian Lightning, losing to the top-ranked squad three sets to one (28-26, 25-20, 25027, 25-11) in a semifinal match.
On the other semifinal court, at the same time, the eighth-ranked Cougars were defeated 3-1 (2522, 20-25, 25-18, 25-18) by the fifth-ranked Abbotsford Christian Knights.
The Condors and Cougars start their bronze-medal battle today at 12:30 p.m. They last met in the North Central zone final two weeks ago, which the Condors won 3-1.
The Lightning and Knights will play for gold starting at 7 p.m.
The Condors were the first Prince George team to qualify for the medal round when they swept Richmond Christian is straight sets in a quarterfinal match Thursday. College Heights stopped George Elliot of Lake Country in a four-set quarterfinal on Thursday.
At the double-A girls tournament in Vanderhoof, the College Heights Cougars dropped a preliminary-round playoff Friday afternoon to Notre Dame of Vancouver, losing 3-2 (22-25, 21-25, 30-28, 25-21, 15-4). The Cougars took on Charles Hays of Prince Rupert later Friday afternoon. Results of that match were not posted on the championship website.
The host Nechako Valley Vikings also lost their playoff match to Pacific Academy of Surrey 3-0 (25-6, 25-4, 25-6) and dropped down to the consolation bracket.
The Cougars went 2-1 in their seeding matches Thursday, finishing second in their pool, while the Vikings went winless at 0-3.
The final is set for 6:30 p.m. Saturday night.
At the triple-A girls provincials in Vancouver, the Kelly Road Roadrunners had their title hopes dashed Friday afternoon in a 3-0 (25-10, 25-23, 25-11) loss to Mark Isfeld of Courtenay. The Roadrunners won their next match in the consolation round, defeating Dawson Creek 2-1 (2512, 17-25, 15-10).