The Langley Christian Lightning figured their quest for a provincial championship would involve a showdown with top-seed Pacific Academy at some point. They just didn’t anticipate it happening in the quarter-finals.
But the Lightning senior girls lost to their Fraser Valley rivals in four sets, ending Langley Christian’s run for the gold at the B.C. 2A senior girls volleyball provincial championships.
The tournament was held at George Elliot Secondary in Lake Country.
“We played our hearts out,” said Langley Christian coach Lisa Bontkes, referring to her team’s quarter-final match.
The four-set loss to Pacific Academy — who had beat Langley Christian in the Fraser Valley final last month — marked the first time this season the Lightning won a set off the Breakers.
Langley Christian went 3-0 to win their pool — they beat St. Pats, Holy Cross and Selkirk all by 2-0 scores — but Pacific Academy had a slip-up in their pool, resulting in a second-place finish and the earlier meeting than expected between the top two seeds.
The emotional loss to their Fraser Valley rivals left the Lightning out of gas.
“After that, we kind of lost steam,” Bontkes said.
The Lightning lost to St. Thomas More before closing the season with a win over Holy Cross to finish seventh.
Olivia Heinen did earn a second team all-star award for Langley Christian.
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The Langley Christian Lightning senior boys finished fifth at the B.C. 2A provincial senior boys volleyball championships at the Langley Events Centre.
Langley Christian went 1-2 in pool play, beating Charles Fulton but losing to MEI and Pacific Academy.
And in the championship round, they beat Woodlands 3-0 before losing to Langley Fundamental in the quarter-finals three sets to two.
Langley Christian closed provincials with wins over George Elliot and College Heights to place fifth overall.
In both their final two games, the Lightning dropped the first set before winning the next two to take the match.
The Lightning’s Brennan Gardner was a first team all-star while Parker Heppell was an honourable mention.
