The Langley Christian Lightning, the lone local team that competed in the B.C. high school senior boys volleyball championships at the Langley Events Centre from Nov. 26-29, ended up seventh in the tournament’s AA bracket.
Langley Christian downed College Heights in two sets (scores were 25-21 and 25-22) Saturday morning in the game deciding seventh and eighth place in B.C.
Earlier, the Lightning were swept by DP Todd, which finished sixth overall. Scores in that grueling two-set affair were 25-19 and 32-30.
In pool play, Langley Christian rolled to two-set wins over Surrey Christian, DP Todd, and College Heights to come out of Pool B as the top-seeded team.
The Lightning opened the championship playoff draw with a three-set win over WL Seaton, before losing in three sets to Woodlands in the quarterfinals dashed Langley Christian’s B.C. title hopes.
“They played free. They enjoyed it,†Lightning coach Micah Jansenvandoorn said, regarding Woodlands. “We were tense and looked tight.â€
The Lightning, who have been led in the tournament by left side Linden Bontkes and setter Brennan Gardner, made 18 errors in the first set alone. Woodlands capitalized, breaking up a close opening game late and then grabbing control in the final two sets.
The seventh place Lightning, who were coming off a third place finish at the Fraser Valley championships and were ranked sixth going into the provincials, include Reid Marriot, Jonathan Macadam, Clayton DeVries, Brennan Gardner, Linden Bontkes, Joseph Goulet-Jones, Logan Smith, Tobias Meier, Kurtis Geuze, Dennis Wang, Kevin Murtland, Aaron Schoepp, Nathan Dickhof, Parker Heppell, and Brandon Visscher.
Eagles soar to B.C. title
The MEI Eagles from Abbotsford put the finishing touch on a nearly perfect season Saturday night by beating CL Fulton in three straight sets to win the AA championship.
The Eagles took every set in their tournament and lost only one match all season, to AAA power Kelowna, a team they also defeated.
Mariners top province
The Earl Marriott Mariners won theirsecond straight AAA title Saturday, beating top-ranked Kelowna in four sets in a rematch of last year’s final.
Mariners coach Bob Smith said his team lost only two sets during the 2013 tournament and felt like they were in control most of the way.
This time, the Marriott from White Rock had it tougher, losing three first sets before Saturday’s action, and having to scramble back.
– From the B.C. championship website, bchighschoolboysvolleyball.com.