The Sir George Simpson Voyageurs and Lorne Akins Gators are the teams to beat in the St. Albert Physical Education Council junior high Tier I city volleyball finals Thursday.
Simpson and Lorne Akins are undefeated in the SAPEC league when they play the Richard S. Fowler Falcons at 6 p.m. for the girls and 8 p.m. for the boys at Bellerose Composite High School.
In the girls’ semifinals, Simpson (9-0, 27 GW/5 GL) defeated the Vincent J. Maloney Marauders (5-4, 18 GW/16 GL), last year’s champions, 21-25, 28-26, 25-21, 25-2 and Fowler (8-1, 26 GW/5 GL) also beat Lorne Akins (5-4, 19 GW/13 GL) in four sets 25-16, 15-25, 25-21, 25-22.
Head to head between Simpson and Fowler, the Voyageurs won 25-20, 20-25, 25-18, 27-29, 15-9 Oct. 13 in league play, as well as victories of 3-0 in exhibition action and 2-1 in the semifinals of the SAPEC tournament.
Simpson went on to capture the SAPEC tournament crown and also placed second at the Spruce Grove Classic and was sixth out of 24 teams at the University of Alberta tournament.
Simpson’s roster includes five players from last year’s 6-3 semifinalists.
The last SAPEC championship for Simpson was 2014, the 12th for the lady Voyageurs, and Fowler has never won the city final.
In the boys’ semifinals, Lorne Akins (9-0, 27 GW/3 GL) swept the ESSMY Leopards (3-6, 13 GW/20 GL) 25-14, 25-20, 25-20 and Fowler (8-1, 26 GW/6 GL) downed the William D. Cuts Crusaders (5-4, 19 GW/16 GL) 24-26, 25-22, 25-20, 25-16.
Lorne Akins needed five sets to knock off Fowler in league play 25-23, 22-25, 25-16, 22-25, 15-8 Oct. 6. and at the University of Alberta swept the Falcons in two sets, en route to winning the tournament.
Lorne Akins was also the top team at the SAPEC tournament.
Lorne Akins is 22-1 overall this year with five returnees from the 2015 city finalists that finished 5-3.
The SAPEC-leading 15th city championship for Lorne Akins was celebrated in 2014 while Fowler is seeking its first boys’ volleyball banner.
In the Tier II finals Tuesday, Simpson (6-3) played the Morinville Wolves (3-6), the 2015 SAPEC boys’ champions, and the lady Wolves (3-6) faced ESSMY (4-5).
Scores were unavailable at press time.
