The BC high school provincials at the junior level are epic because they are the hardest to win. The tournament is by invitation only and not decided by regional representation, and there is no tiering of schools based on size. There’s no A, AA, AAA or AAA brackets. All the province’s best teams, regardless of size of program, compete against each other.
Lightning junior girls wrapped up their season at the provincials in Surrey with a fifth place finish. The girls were coached all season by husband-wife duo, Julianna Howe and Taylor Howe. Both were former varsity players with a passion for coaching and mentoring our students. Alumna, Anneke Beimers (2016) also coached the junior girls program this year.
The girls had a strong playoff run beating the Fraser North division champions Burnaby North 2-0 in the crossover game to get into top 8. We then went on play Vernon in the quarter finals. The game was a rematch of the finals at the TWU tournament earlier in the year but this time we weren’t able to come out on top. The match was close with the second set going point for point eventually losing 25-22. After a heart breaking loss, the girls had to rebound quickly to immediately play OKM, another strong Okanagan team to fight for a fifth place finish. It was a thrilling game where the girls had to climb back from a 17-11 deficit in the second set to win the game 2-0. It was a classic showcase of the grit, effort, and resilience they have shown all season to prove to be one of the best Junior Girls teams in the province. Abbie Lammers earned a 2nd team all star for her contributions to our team.
Overall it was an amazing season of personal and athletic growth for every girl on our team. Their leadership, work ethic and ability to elevate their teammates above themselves is second to none. The future is bright for this team!
JULIANNA HOWE – JR GIRLS VOLLEYBALL COACH
The junior boys started slowly at their provincials in Kamloops, dropping their first match in pool play against a scrappy New Westminster Hyacks team. From there they won their next two matches on the strength of some outstanding play by grade 9 athletes Drew Van Huizen and Ike Hogewoning, and finished second in the pool. Lucas Woelders, 2022 LCS grad and UBC Okanagan Heat men’s volleyball player, joined the team bench on the second day and was a huge help for some players on the team. In the playoff matches on day two, the Lightning won in two straight sets over Spectrum and MEI and then met Surrey Christian in the semi-final on the final day.
The boys were down 14-9 in the first set but did not panic and pulled out a 25-23 win. In the second set, SCS were determined to win and jumped out 10-1 before the Lightning stormed back and won the match with another 25-23 win. The gold medal match was an epic battle against rival Elgin Park.
The Lightning boys had two match points after coming back from down 2-1 in sets, and 13-9 in the final set, but couldn’t get the final point and eventually dropped a heartbreaking final 18-16. (25-21, 20-25, 19-25, 25-21, 16-18). The team’s resilience and refusal to back down when down in the score in the final two matches epitomized the character of this team and the hard work they put in all season to normalize anxiety and develop strategies to overcome performance pressure. Samuel Woelders and Tayven Magnowski won tournament all-star awards after playing through discomfort and injury, but the tournament coordinator Norm Hansen commented how hard it was to pick a standout on a team where everyone contributed to success and there were so many obvious leaders on the floor.
This loss was so hard. It will take some time for the guys to process this… But we talked on the very first day of practice about what it would take to earn the privilege of playing on the final day at Provincials in the gold medal match with a chance to risk big and win it all. We couldn’t be more proud of these young men, and more thankful for the parent community who supported us all season. What a ride! I’ve never coached such a composed group of boys with such a high belief that they’re never out of a match. The leadership and character of this group is off the charts. They will get another chance at a provincial title I am sure.
AdAM WOELDERS – LCS BOYS VOLLEYBALL COACH
The junior boys coaches this year were Adam Woelders, Mitch Jarvie (2013 alumni), Lies Reimer, Ryan Sept, Brent Magnowski and Nathan Van Huizen. Our school is thankful for your contributions. We also want to thank Kirk Stevenson for driving our teams up to Kamloops twice over the course of the season.
