Playing at Langley Christian comes with expectations.
“This has become a tradition for Langley. When they see the students and players before (them), there is a bit of an expectation to do well in Langley,” said Lightning coach Bruce Wergeland.
His Lightning team defeated the Walnut Grove Gators 3-0 on Wednesday at the Langley Events Centre in the Langley District Grade 8 boys volleyball team championship game.
The Lighting won 25-16, 25-14 and 25-18 in claiming their fifth straight district title.
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Langley Christian was the top seed heading in after a 6-0 regular season while Walnut Grove was second at 4-2.
As the top seed, the Lightning advanced straight to the semifinals while Walnut Grove beat Yorkson Creek 3-1 in the first round and then Credo Christian 3-0 to set up the championship final.
“We know we are a strong team so we would have been disappointed to lose in the Langley final, knowing we had beat the teams in our region consistently,” Wergeland said.
“We know this is an achievement even though it is a stepping stone.”
The team’s strength is offence.
“We play well at the net and have lots of guys that can hit. And our big guys, they are disciplined and patient at the net,” the coach said.
Both the Lightning and Gators advance to next week’s Fraser Valley championships, which will be hosted by Langley Christian Nov. 6 to 8.
And Wergeland said being in the Fraser Valley final is the team’s ultimate goal.
Winning districts was a nice bonus considering the team has three second-place finishes on its resume.
Two of those losses have come at the hands of one team, the MEI Eagles.
“Our big competition, we think will be MEI. We have lost them in two different tournaments, real close. We think we can compete well with them.”
In the district third-place game, Credo Christian defeated Langley Fundamental 3-0 (25-20, 25-19, 25-13).
Credo Christian faces a wild-card game to see if they advance to the Fraser Valley championships.
