Team rallies around injured Visscher
Langley Christian Lightning electrifies Saturday’s provincial championship final match
The Langley Christian Lightning took a few jolts of adversity in the days leading up to the B.C. senior boys double-A volleyball championships.
“But we had started talking together on the very first day of our season that we had 90 days to achieve, to focus on the process every day,” Lightning head coach Carol Hofer said Monday, reflecting back to the mantra that carried her team past Prince George’s College Heights Cougars 3-1 (19-25, 25-22, 25-23, 25-18) in Saturday’s provincial championship final match at the Langley Events Centre.
Just six days before the championship tournament was set to begin its four-day run, starting libero Brandon Visscher dislocated his shoulder while jumping into a swimming pool and was lost for the tournament.
“The boys really wanted to play for him,” said Hofer, whose team then lost starting setter Caleb Schnitzer to an injury for its semifinal game, getting great play from backup Jeremiah Macadam before Schnitzer returned for the final against the Cougars. “But we had played some of our best volleyball this season at the Fraser Valley championships, so we knew the entire team had built some great momentum. It was our whole season that had prepared us for this.”
The Lightning weren’t perfect to start.
Having never faced College Heights this season, they dropped the first set but then gutted out a pair of nail-biters before winning it all in the fourth.
Grade 11 left side Brodie Hofer, the coach’s son and recent commit to U Sports’ No. 1 Trinity Western University, was named the most outstanding player while senior left side Reid Marriott was named a first team all-star.
n In the boys triple-A championship final, Surrey’s Semiahmoo Totems, battle-tested by a deep field of other Fraser Valley contenders, rose to the top in Saturday’s final, also played at the LEC.
The No. 2-seeded Totems went the full five sets and topped the No. 1-seeded Kelowna Owls 16-14 behind an excellent performance from Grade 11 standout Michael Dowhaniuk, who broke a 14-14 deadlock with the final two points of the match.
“For everybody the goal is to win that provincial championship,” said Dowhaniuk, who was named the tournament’s most valuable player. “We just tried to work hard and learn something every day that would help us get a chance to hold that team banner.”
Semiahmoo had opened power pool play on Wednesday with a loss to the Owls, and on Saturday, in that fifth set, there was opportunity for doubt to come creeping back in.
“It took a lot of heart,” continued Dowhaniuk, whose team had fallen behind 7-3 in the deciding set. “Somehow we found a way to put all of that energy together and we got it to 8-7. Once we did that we were able to ride our momentum.”
Semiahmoo’s Grade 11 middle Adam Paige was named to the first all-star team.
Girls
n In the B.C. quad-A championship final played at North Vancouver, Belmont of Victoria finished its season with a flourish, topping the hometown Handsworth Royals 3-0 (25-17, 25-10, 25-22).
Belmont’s Savannah Purdy was chosen the tournament MVP as the Victoria school won its first provincial senior varsity girls volleyball crown since 2001.
n In the B.C. triple-A championship final at Kelowna, Vancouver’s Little Flower Academy Angels swept past Vernon’s W.L. Seaton Sonics 3-0 (25-12, 25-17, 25-19).
n The host MEI Eagles of Abbotsford completed a storybook season, repeating as B.C. double-A champions on their home court, rallying from three points down in the decisive fifth set to defeat Langley Christian.
Janelle Loewen of the Eagles was chosen tournament MVP while her teammate Ashley Huberts, along with Langley Christian’s Olivia Heinen and Jayden Bontkes, were all picked to the first all-star team. Other first-team picks were Surrey Christian’s Kiera Van Ryk and Cassandra Brinn of Vancouver’s St. Pat’s.
n In the B.C. single-A championships, played at Immaculata secondary in Kelowna, Cecilee MaxBrown of White Rock Christian was named MVP as she helped lead her Warriors to a 3-0 title-match win over Kelowna Christian.