Langley Christian Lightning, Aiming For A 3-Peat Despite No. 4 Ranking

In high school sports, winning back-to-back titles is a difficult task, let alone, winning three straight titles.

Every year, new players come in for their Grade 11 season to take over from where the previous year’s Grade 11s & 12s left off.

And it gets especially hard when four of those Grade 12s from a year ago are suiting up for various post-secondary teams – Brodie Hofer (Trinity Western), Trevor Koch (Columbia Bible College), Matthias Dahl (Redeemer) and Jerimiah Macadam (Redeemer).

But that’s exactly the goal the Langley Christian Lightning, who captured AA Senior Boys Volleyball titles in 2016 & 2017, have this season.

“At the beginning of the year, we established that (winning Provincials) as our goal for the season,” said Brynden MacTavish, head coach and seven year veteran of the Lightning’s Senior Boys program. “Looking at who we had coming back and the Grade 11s we had come in, especially as we have gone through the year, playing the top teams (Abbotsford Christian, MEI and George Elliot), we feel like we’ve got a shot to hopefully put another banner up on the wall.”

So far this season, the Lightning have played a somewhat busy schedule, winning the Trinity Western Tournament and traveling out to Spruce Grove, AB.  to play some of the best teams in Alberta, on their way to a second place finish there – the Lightning lost three games in Spruce Grove, two in the round-robin and in the Finals – two of the loses were to the No. 1 and No. 3 ranked AAAA Boys teams in Alberta.

“We spent a lot of time at the start of the year implementing some new block systems and working on our defence.”

The work paid off for the Lightning at the Spruce Grove tournament, where they forced opponents to side out at a crazy rate, and never really letting opponents get more than two points in a row on them.

The Lightning have also fared very well against the No. 1 ranked George Elliot Coyotes and the No. 3 ranked Abbotsford Christian Knights this season, playing tough, close games that MacTavish said could have went either way.

Leading the way for the Lighting in 2018 are a pair of Grade 12s, Caleb Kastelein and Ethan Visscher and Grade 11 standout setter, Jonas Van Huizen.

“Caleb is unreal,” said MacTavish. “As far as being a leader, he’s got such a high competitive motor. He’s the guy that keeps everyone focused during training and keeps everyone on task. And his connection with Jonas, our setter, has been really good. There wasn’t a middle in Spruce Grove who could hang with the speed at which they were running plays. Which is cool, because we’ve barely worked on our offence this year. But when we have a gun-slinger at setter like Jonas, the offence has just taken care of its self so far this year.”

The AA Boys Provincials are scheduled for Nov. 28 to Dec. 1st at the Langley Events Centre.

Around the province, the biggest jump in the AAA Boys rankings was from Mt. Baker, who jumped up to No. 6 in the rankings after a strong showing at Best in the West in Kelowna this past weekend. And despite their loss to the College Heights Cougars, the Earl Marriott Mariners held onto the No. 1 spot for another week.

On the AA Boys side, the George Elliot Coyotes and College Heights took over the No. 1 and 2 spots after they met in the Finals at Best in the West – the Coyotes pulled off the win there. The always consistent Langley Fundamental Titans also moved up two spots this week, slotting in at No. 7.

And on the Single-A Boys side, the Vernon Christian Royals hold on to their No. 1 ranking after a trip to the quarterfinals at Best in the Best. South Slocan’s Mt. Sentinel Spartans made the most noise in the Single-A Boys rankings, going from unranked to the No. 4 spot.

The full B.C. High School Senior Boys rankings are below, as of Oct. 16, 2018.

 

AAA Boys Volleyball Rankings

  1. Earl Marriott Mariners (Surrey) (LW-1)
  2. Van Tech Talismen (2)
  3. Claremont Sparts (Victoria) (3)
  4. Penticton Lakers (6)
  5. Kelowna Owls (4)
  6. Baker Wild (Cranbrook) (NR)
  7. Oak Bay Bays (Victoria) (8)
  8. Boucherie Bears (Kelowna) (7)
  9. Okanagan Mission Huskies (Kelowna) (5)
  10. Moscrop Panthers (Burnaby) (10)
  11. Delta Pacers (Ladner) (11)
  12. Argyle Pipers (North Vancouver) (9)
  13. Dover Bay Dolphins (Nanaimo) (12)
  14. Burnaby Central Wildcats (13)
  15. Steveston-London Sharks (Richmond) (14)

 

AA Boys Volleyball Rankings

  1. George Elliot Coyotes (Lake Country) (LW-4)
  2. College Heights Cougars (Prince George) (3)
  3. Abbotsford Christian Knights (1)
  4. Langley Christian Lightning (2)
  5. MEI Eagles (Abbotsford) (5)
  6. Surrey Christian Falcons (6)
  7. Langley Fundamental Titans (9)
  8. P. Todd Trojans (Prince George) (8)
  9. Richmond Christian Eagles (10)
  10. Princess Margaret Mustangs (Penticton) (7)

 

A Boys Volleyball Rankings

  1. Vernon Christian Royals (LW-1)
  2. Centennial Christian Seahawks (Terrace) (2)
  3. Credo Christian Kodiaks (Langley) (3)
  4. Sentinel Spartans (South Slocan) (NR)
  5. Fernie Falcons(10)
  6. Ann’s Crusaders (Kamloops) (6)
  7. Kelowna Christian Knights(4)
  8. Cedars Christian Eagles (Prince George) (8)
  9. Ebenezer Canadian Reformed Auroras (Smithers) (5)
  10. Bulkley Valley Christian Royals (Smithers) (9)