At the start of the season, the motto for the Langley Fundamental Titans junior girls volleyball team was ‘let’s go higher.’
The motto was in response to last year’s fourth-place finish at the Fraser Valley championships.
On Tuesday night, the team did just that and now the question remains, just how high can the team go?
The Titans captured the Fraser Valley championship banner, defeating South Delta 3-2 (27-25,20-25,26-24,22-25,15-12) in the final at Riverside Secondary.
Langley Fundamental was ranked second for the tournament and will enter this weekend’s provincial championships in Richmond as the top seed.
The Fraser Valley title is the first won by any Titans sports team in the school’s short history.
Against South Delta, the Titans were up against a big hitting team which seemed to dig up every shot Fundamental sent across the net.
“We had to play a smarter game, picking spots with our hits,” said coach Laura O’Reilly.
“That was the only way we were going to win.”
A big reason for the victory was the play of Karah Kostomo who had 14 blocks in the match.
And when a ball did elude her grasp, her teammates were quick to back her up.
“They dug everything up,” O’Reilly said.
Kostomo and Kim Bauder earned all-star awards, while Brie O’Reilly, the team’s setter, was most valuable player.
The coach also singled out the play of power Hannah Beaton, saying she was worthy of an all-star selection.
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The Titans nearly made it a clean sweep at the junior level, but the boys’ squad fell 3-2 to MEI in the final held at Heritage Park Secondary on Tuesday.
“They were heartbroken,” said coach Jan Ellison.
“We had them and our big hitter went down.”
She was referring to the loss of Michael Hsu, who could not complete the match because of muscle cramping.
The Eagles took advantage of his absence to win the fourth set to force a deciding set, which they won 15-12.
The loss was the first of the season for the Titans in 30 matches.
Hsu was named to the all-star team while Stephen Hsu was picked most valuable player.
The Titans will play at the provincial championships, which begin today (Thursday) and run until Saturday at Abbotsford’s MEI Secondary. Langley Fundamental is seeded third in the 20-team tournament.
Also at the tournament will be Langley Christian, which placed fourth at Fraser Valleys. Braden Heppell was named to the all-star team.
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The Langley Fundamental Titans placed third at the Fraser Valley AA senior girls’ volleyball championships held at Pacific Academy.
