The Claremont Spartans posted a solid record at the senior boys provincial AAA volleyball championships in Kelowna last weekend.
After squeaking into provincials with a wild card berth, Claremont went undefeated in pool play beating Vancouver Technical (25-20, 25-14), G.P. Vanier from Courtenay (20-25, 27-25, 15-4) and Mt. Baker (25-20, 25-15) from Cranbrook. Claremont then faced R.A McMath from Richmond and defeated them (25-18, 25-23, 25-23), which put Claremont into the round of 16 teams.
Unfortunately they faced the No. 1 ranked Earl Marriott in the best of 5 sets. Claremont had a great chance to close out the first set but lost 24-26. In the second set, they ran into some trouble with their serve-receive rotation and lost 10-25. In the third set the Spartans led for a while but the larger provincial team players that led the Earl Marriott proved to be a little too much to overcome and Claremont lost 18-25.
With only one loss, the Claremont played Semiahmoo - Surrey (ranked 7 higher) and dominated them with great defense and big blocks (25-12, 25-17). The Spartans then faced off against David Thompson - Vancouver (ranked 4 ahead) and won (25-17, 25-14), earning a place in the Consolation Final vs. Seaquim – Delta. The Spartans battled and beat the huge team from Delta (29-27, 25-22) and were crowned Consolation Champions with an impressive seven match wins and one loss.