Introductions weren't required.
The College Heights Cougars and Duchess Park Condors, ranked sixth and seventh respectively at the double-A boys high school volleyball provincial championship in Langley, already knew each other very well when they stepped onto the court on Wednesday, the first day of the 16-team tournament. In the match, the second of pool play for each team, the Cougars swept to a 25-22, 28-26 win.
Prior to Wednesday, the two Prince George squads clashed on Nov. 19 in the gold-medal match at the north central zones and the Cougars emerged victorious in a five-set marathon. Scores that day were 25-21, 22-25, 21-25, 25-19, 15-13.
The Cougars began provincials with a 25-16, 25-18 victory against eighth-seeded Pacific Christian of Victoria while the Condors also got the start they wanted in a two-sets-to-one win against fifth-ranked George Elliot of Winfield.
In their last match, the Cougars completed a perfect day when they beat George Elliot 22-25, 25-16, 15-10. The Condors defeated Pacific Christian (score not available).
Based on Wednesday's results, the Cougars finished first in the pool and the Condors placed second. All 16 teams were re-seeded for the playoff round, which starts today.
Matches continue on Friday and the championship final will start at 7 p.m. on Saturday. The event is being held at the Langley Events Centre.
Langley Christian, the Fraser Valley zone champ, was the pre-tournament favourite. Surrey's Pacific Academy, defending B.C. champion MEI of Abbotsford and 2015 provincial finalist Langley Fundamental rounded out the top four.
The D.P. Todd Trojans open their senior girls high school volleyball provincial tournament today in Abbotsford with a 12:45 p.m. match against Pacific Academy. In the 16-team double-A event, the north central-champion Trojans are ranked ninth and Pacific Academy is fifth.
Also today, D.P. Todd will take on third-seeded St. Patrick of Vancouver at 2 p.m. and will face Charles Hays of Prince Rupert, the No. 15 seed, at 5:45 p.m.
The tournament runs through Saturday, with the championship final set for 5:30 p.m. Langley Christian and MEI entered provincials as the top two seeds.
The PGSS Polars and Duchess Park Condors have been ranked fourth and eighth respectively for the girls triple-A high school volleyball provincials, which start today at Kelowna's Okanagan Mission.
In the 16-team tournament, the zone champion Polars will meet Richmond's McNair - the lowest seed - at 10:30 a.m. and will follow with matches against No. 10 Mark Isfeld of Courtenay at 1 p.m. and No. 6 Caledonia of Terrace at 3:30 p.m.
The Condors, meanwhile, will play No. 12 Langley at 9:15 a.m., 14th-seeded L.V. Rogers of Nelson at 11:45 a.m. and No. 2 Timberline at 2:15 p.m.
The Brooks Thunderbirds of Powell River are the tournament's top seed.
Playoffs will commence on Friday and the championship match will be on the court at 4:45 p.m. on Saturday.
