Richmond Christian Eagles capped an outstanding two-year run with their second straight top eight finish at the B.C. “AA” Boys Volleyball Championships at the Langley Events Centre.
With enrollment numbers that barely push the No. 5 Road school into the higher “AA” tier, the Eagles enjoyed one of their best-ever campaigns with a fifth place finish a year ago. Even with some key players graduating, there was enough returning talent — led by senior standouts Elijah Kim and Jackson Campbell — to begin this season in the top 10 rankings.
The Eagles maintained their status over the next three months — repeating as city champions with another unbeaten run and also capturing the Lower Mainland "AA' title.
They headed to Langley as the No. 8 seed and went 1-2 in power pool play to set-up a quarter-final match-up with No. 10 Princess Margaret. A tight battle with the Penticton school saw the Eagles prevail in straight sets — 31-29, 25-16, 25-22.
The road to the podium ended with a loss to eventual silver medalist and No. 1 ranked George Elliott — 12-25, 19-25, 15-25. The Eagles then closed out the tournament with a narrow three-set loss (25-22, 23-25, 8-15) to No. 5 Richmond Christian before falling 2-0 to Kelly Road of Prince George.
Campbell’s outstanding play earned him a spot on the Tournament Second All-Star Team.