KPAC Tier 1 volleyball got underway last week with the opening round of league play.
The first few evenings included a pair of doubleheaders in Selkirk, both featuring the Lord Selkirk Royals varsity boys’ and girls’ volleyball teams.
The varsity boys had the more successful start, going 1-1 in matches against the Murdoch MacKay Clansmen and the Calvin Christian Eagles on Monday and Wednesday.
Monday’s KPAC opener against Murdoch stretched to five sets after the Clansmen battled back from a two-sets-to-one deficit. From there, the Royals were unable to slow Murdoch’s momentum as Selkirk dropped the fifth and final set to lose the match 3-2 (25-20, 19-25, 25-14, 21-25, 7-15).
Wednesday’s match with the Eagles featured an almost identical result — this time in favour of Selkirk. Down 2-1, the Royals fought back to win the fourth set, then rode that momentum through the fifth to complete the comeback with a 3-2 victory (21-25, 25-19, 23-25, 25-23, 15-10).
After one week of play, the Royals sit fifth in the league with a 1-1 record.
The varsity girls also played a pair of close matches on Monday and Wednesday but were unable to claw out a win against either Murdoch or the Mennonite Brethren Hawks.
Monday’s opener against Murdoch was close through two sets after the Royals took the first and the Clansmen responded in the second. Murdoch then stayed one step ahead in the final two sets, handing Selkirk a 3-1 loss (25-16, 11-25, 17-25, 22-25).
Wednesday’s match with the Hawks was a much tighter contest, with the teams trading set victories through the first four. The decisive fifth set saw the Hawks pull away with a 15-5 edge, as Selkirk fell 3-2 (22-25, 25-20, 25-21, 20-25, 5-15) and dropped to 0-2 on the KPAC campaign.