The 14th SAPEC boys’ volleyball banner in school history ranks among the best of the best for the Lorne Akins Gators.
The Gators finished 10-0 (30 GW/3 GL) in league and playoffs combined after crushing the defending champion Sir George Simpson Voyageurs 25-14, 25-11, 25-20 in Tuesday’s anticlimactic Tier 1 final at Bellerose Composite High School.
“It’s pretty special. It’s been done a couple of times and I’m glad to be the captain of the team that goes undefeated,” said power-hitter Landon Bishop after the team’s third playoff sweep in 15 days.
The Gators lost only 11 sets overall this year while going 38-2 as winners of two tournament titles. Both losses were against the Vernon Barford Blues of Edmonton without a full starting line-up.
“We have a good history of winning in volleyball for the boys and I love being a part of it. It’s awesome,” said setter Aidan Steinke.
Bishop, 14, said the team’s success starts with preparation.
“We have a lot of practices and our coaches (Moritz Schmidt and Ian Steinke) are pretty hard on us but in the end they teach us good lessons and it seems to come out in our play.”
A positive attitude was another factor in the Gators’ championship run.
“If we make an error, one of our teammates will help us get back up and we’ll make the next play,” Bishop added.
Steinke, 14, described the Gators as a well-rounded team.
“We have really strong hitters. Everybody can pass the ball good and the setters can set. We talk a lot so there is lots of communication. We don’t usually let the ball hit the floor very often either.”
Steinke, Bishop, Ben Doig, Brant Curtis and Logan Buchanan, a defensive dynamo at libero, are returning players on a stacked 11-man roster of Grade 9s.
Devon Dorn, Cam Edwards, Nigel Harris, Connor Hodgson, Alex Holmes and Brandon Psutka joined a senior team that finished a disappointing 5-4 last year after losing three sets to Simpson in the semifinals.
“These are all my brothers and I’m glad for them that we won,” Bishop said. “It’s one of many for our school and it feels pretty good.”
The final was over in a blink of an eye as the Gators overpowered Simpson with an impressive show of force.
“They are a good team but I was confident in us sweeping them,” Steinke said.
The Gators didn’t take Simpson (8-12, 25 GW/11 GL) for granted after needing four sets to beat them in league play by scores of 20-25, 25-14, 25-13, 25-16 in the Oct. 8 lid-lifter.
“The underdog can always come through so there was definitely pressure on us but we came through against them,” Steinke said of a Simpson squad with seven Grade 9s, but only three returnees from last year’s 10-0 SAPEC championship team that dropped only one set in league and playoffs combined.
Two years ago Simpson was undefeated entering the final but was upset in five sets by the William D. Cuts Crusaders.
The Gators came out swinging in the first set, as Holmes did most of the damage during a seven-point run after Simpson scored the first point of the match.
The net presence of Edwards and Curtis contributed to a string of five in a row to make it 14-5 and a variety of Gators took turns producing points as the lead grew to 20-11.
The second set was decided by an 11-point scoring spree to lead 21-10. Quality serves by Harris and an unrelenting hitting attack left Simpson scrambling to stop the bleeding.
Simpson got untracked briefly in the third set to post an early 10-6 advantage. After falling behind by three, Simpson rallied with five straight to regain the lead at 15-13, then tied it at 16 before the Gators buckled down to complete the sweep.
Down the stretch Edwards pounded the ball for multiple points, Steinke’s ace made it 23-18 and Curtis closed out the match with a play from the middle to kick-start the celebration.
“We just pulled together. I guess it came from the heart,” said Bishop, a bantam AAA defenceman with the St. Albert Sabres. “I’ve always wanted to play in this game so it feels pretty good to win it like we did.”
The SAPEC-leading 14th championship was also the first since 2010 for the Gators. The team’s first banner was 1976.
“Representing Lorne Akins like this is awesome. I’m proud to be a Gator. I love it,” said Steinke, a centreman for the Sabres.
Meanwhile, in the Tier 2 final Friday the Richard S. Fowler Falcons (4-6, 15 GW/21 GL) swept the ESSMY Leopards (4-6, 14 GW/21 GL) 29-27, 25-13, 25-13.
