On Tap

St. Albert and Sturgeon teams in premier women’s high school volleyball spike the ball tonight at 6:15 p.m. in the metro Edmonton league.

The Paul Kane Blues, ranked seventh provincially in 4A, host the Archbishop Jordan Scots. The Blues are the defending premier conference champions. At provincials they finished eighth last year and seventh in 2009.

Meanwhile, the Bellerose Bulldogs entertain the O’Leary Spartans and the St. Albert Skyhawks visit the Sturgeon Spirits.

The Paul Kane Blues and Bellerose Bulldogs huddle up in Thursday’s doubleheader at Foote Field in metro Edmonton high school football.

At 5 p.m. the Blues tackle the Archbishop Jordan Scots. Both teams are winless in the Carr conference.

The Bulldogs (1-2) battle the Austin O’Brien Crusaders (2-0) at 7:30 p.m. The Crusaders are the number-one ranked tier II team in Alberta.

Game admission is $5.

Saturday’s home opener for the St. Albert Raiders in the Alberta Midget AAA Hockey League starts at 1:15 p.m. against the Lloydminster Bobcats at Akinsdale Arena.

Sunday the Raiders play the Maple Leafs at 2:15 p.m. at Bill Hunter Arena.

The Raiders closed out their pre-season Sunday with a 3-1 win over the South Side Athletic Club in St. Albert. The team’s exhibition record was 5-1.

Last season the Raiders placed second in the north division at 20-10-4 and were eliminated in the division semifinal by the Leduc Oil Kings in the fifth and deciding game.

The puck drops Saturday for the St. Albert Flyers in the Alberta Minor Midget AAA Hockey League.

Game time is 8 p.m. against the SSAC Bulldogs at Akinsdale Arena.

In the 2010-11 campaign the Flyers finished second in the north conference at 30-7-1 and in the North Cup playoff tournament to determine the provincial qualifier their record was 1-1-1 in the pool B round robin.

The next game for the St. Albert Sabres in the Alberta Major Bantam Hockey League is Saturday against the Lloydminster Heat. Faceoff is 12:45 p.m. in the Border City.

The Sabres are undefeated in league play after beating the 2010 provincial champion SSAC Southgate Lions 4-3 in St. Albert and the Maple Leafs 4-1 in Edmonton last weekend.

Stephen Cretain, Curtis Peck, Ethan Lazaro and Tristen Gavin scored against the Lions and Patrick Dea stopped 49 shots for the home team.

Last season the Lions (26-4-3) and Sabres (23-7-3) finished first and second, respectively, in the nitro north division. In the playoffs the Lions defeated the Sabres in the divisional final.

The next home game for the Sabres is Oct. 5 against Leduc at 7:45 p.m. at Akinsdale Arena.