An injury to their most valuable player before the season even began could have derailed the Langley Christian Lightning’s season.
A freak accident sidelined Brodie Hofer as he was forced to watch as he recovered from two broken toes.
“In a way, it was really good for our team because other players stepped up and took on both a leadership role and a performance role,” said Lightning senior boys volleyball coach Carol Hofer.
Two players in particular, Caleb Kastelein and Trevor Koch, took on larger roles.
“They had to carry a lot of the load for us and they did a great job,” Hofer said. “They have been outstanding all season for us and now with Brodie back, it really keeps our offence balanced.”
On Friday night, Brodie Hofer — who returned about two and a half weeks ago — showed little rust, delivering 28 kills in his team’s 3-2 victory over the Abbotsford Christian Knights.
The two rivals — who were both 9-1 in league play, having split their two matches — were competing in the senior boys AA Fraser Valley championship game at Abbotsford Christian School.
Brodie Hofer earned most valuable player honours while Kastelein and Caleb Schnitzer were named to the all-star team.
Now comes the next challenge: repeating as the BC AA provincial champions when the tournament gets underway at the Langley Events Centre (Nov. 29 to Dec. 2).
“We just knew we had to get better every week. We knew once Brodie came back it would solidify us,” the coach said.
The team has plenty of championship experience under their belts already as eight of the dozen players on the team were part of last year’s squad and three of the four Grade 11s were on the team which won the BC junior provincial title two years ago.
Also joining the Lightning at the provincial championships will be the Langley Fundamental Titans.
The Titans placed fourth at Fraser Valleys after losing to Abbotsford Christian in the semifinals and the MEI Eagles in the bronze-medal game.
Jacob Dewulf was named a first team all-star for the Titans.
