Best friends who have been high school rivals — but club teammates — will now be just the latter.
Langley's Denham O'Reilly and Tim Edge are both entering their freshman seasons with the Thompson Rivers WolfPack men's volleyball team in the fall.
Both have played together with the Fraser Valley Volleyball Club for the past six years. But at the high school level, O'Reilly was with the Langley Fundamental Titans while Edge attended Surrey's Pacific Academy and played for the Breakers.
O'Reilly plays setter while Edge is a left-side hitter, who is coming off a serious concussion that cost him most of the past season.
"Tim has a huge upside; I think a lot of teams don't know about Tim because he had a concussion last year and was out for most of the season," said Ryan Adams, the coach with FVVC.
"Tim's power comes along once in a while; once he learns how to harness it properly, he will be an offensive force."
"My main strengths are that I have a powerful arm and a good jump serve," Edge said.
"I think my strengths are my head game and my energy," O'Reilly said.
"I have grown up around volleyball literally my entire life. I am very excited about introducing a new opinion and thought process to the team."
O'Reilly is a six-foot setter and this past season, the Titans won the B.C. AA provincial championship banner in school history. The team was also the Fraser Valley champions with O'Reilly earning all-star awards at both tournaments.
"Denham is an extremely passionate player," said Matt Lewis, his coach with Langley Fundamental.
"He loves this game more than anything and it's easy to see when he is on the court.
"When it comes to his style of play, he is a very offensive player and a playmaker.
"He always makes the quick decisions on the court. For me he was a leader and went above and beyond the call of duty."