The Lorne Akins Gators continued their tradition of excellence in junior high boys’ volleyball in Thursday’s Tier I city final.
The 16th championship in the St. Albert Physical Education Council league was the 25-14, 23-25, 26-24, 25-14 victory over the Richard S. Fowler Falcons at Bellerose Composite High School.
The Gators now have double the number of SAPEC banners than the William D. Cuts Crusaders, the next highest championship winner with eight.
“It’s really a good moment for us,” said Bryce Neuls, captain of the Gators, 10-0 (30 GW/4 GL) in league play and 23-1 overall. “We’ve got to carry on the tradition throughout the years.”
In last year’s final, the Gators stumbled in four sets against the Morinville Wolves after winning back-to-back championships.
“Definitely, we really wanted to win after losing last year,” said Neuls, one of five returning Gators from the 5-3 finalists. “There was a lot of excitement throughout this match for us. It was really fun.”
Fowler was poised to make school history as the first boys’ volleyball team to win the SAPEC banner after polishing off the Crusaders (5-4) 24-26, 25-22, 25-20, 25-16 in the semifinals.
“They mentioned it a lot at school. It was in my head definitely and I think it was in the back of my other teammates’ heads but hopefully it didn’t get us blocked from the goal we had to win,” said Dean Page, captain of the 8-2 (27 GW/9 GL) Falcons.
The Gators clipped the Falcons 25-23, 22-25, 25-16, 22-25, 15-8 in league play Oct. 6 and they also swept Fowler in two sets as winners of the University of Alberta tournament.
The Gators were also victorious at the SAPEC tournament.
“Their hitting was much harder than any team we’ve played, especially No. 7,” said Page of the dangerous Neuls, a six-foot-three Grade 9 power.
The player of the game for the Gators was among four heavy hitters measuring six feet or taller and armed with rocket launchers.
“Hitting is probably our biggest strength and our height too. We have a lot of tall players on our team,” Neuls said.
The Gators came out swinging in the first set but Fowler stood its ground defensively to keep it close until Lorne Akins busted loose during an 11-3 run to close out the set, including the last five points in a row.
The scrappy Falcons fell behind early in the second set but chipped at various deficits to jump ahead 19-17 with Vince Laurel, a dynamic five-foot-four power, leading the charge.
It was 19-all when points by Page off a block and Laurel’s go-ahead serve put Fowler back on top.
After the Gators tied it 21, Fowler scored three points in a row and the 24th came off Talin Thera’s block.
The Gators answered with a pair through some staunch defence before Fowler ended the set to even the match at 1-1.
“We were cold in the first set but in the next set we persevered and pushed through,” Page said. “We were getting the ball over and covering blocks.”
The setback for the Gators was short-lived as the team regained its winning form in the third set.
“We just kind of lost our momentum and missed a few serves and that’s what cost us,” Neuls said of the second set. “After that we got our heads back in the game and really focused on making our serves and getting good passes up.”
Fowler continued its gritty play to stay within striking distance of the Gators while producing the tying points five times after trailing 18-14.
It was 24-23 Fowler, when Connor Manhella uncorked a shot to knot the count and the impressive Laurel rose to the challenge to give Fowler the lead again.
Laurel, the player of the game for Fowler, was arguably the man of the match.
“He’s a little ninja. He just runs around the court getting every ball he can and hitting as hard as he can,” said Page of the Grade 9 Falcon.
Down 25-24, the Gators buckled down to win the third set with consecutive points off blocks by Neuls and Ryan Holmes put his stamp on the 26th point by hammering a spike into the floor.
The last set was an overpowering show of force by the Gators against the emotionally-spent Falcons.
“We just fell apart at the end,” said Page of the team’s “best game of the year.”
“We passed really well, we set the ball where our hitters were and we swung hard at every ball we could even though we got blocked a couple of times,” Page added.
Overall, it was a season to remember for the Fowler lineup of nine Grade 9s and three Grade 8s. Strong tournament showings included the University of Alberta and Morinville, where the Falcons beat the host team in two sets in the Oct. 29 final.
“After we lost that league game to Lorne Akins we went undefeated to make it to the final so we’re pretty happy about that,” said Page, 14.
Fowler brought out the best in the Gators in the biggest match of the season.
“They gave us a good battle,” Neuls, 14. “There were lots of hits from both sides and lots of coverage going. It was really good.”
Visit www.stalbertgazette.com to view the Lorne Akins’ team picture.
