SAPEC volleyball
The stage is set for the St. Albert Physical Education Council junior high volleyball championships.Thursday’s Tier I city finals feature the Richard S. Fowler Falcons against the Sir George Simpson Voyageurs for the girls at 6 p.m. and the Lorne Akins Gators against Fowler for the boys at 7:45 p.m. at Bellerose Composite High School.
In the girls’ final, Fowler is 10-0 (30 GW/6 GL) and Simpson, winner of the last two SAPEC city banners, is 8-2 (28 GW/10 GL).
Fowler, the SAPEC tournament champion, defeated Simpson in league play 25-20, 12-25, 15-25, 25-12, 15-2.
In the semifinals, Fowler downed the Lorne Akins Gators (6-4) 25-20, 23-25, 25-17, 25-22 and Simpson rallied to beat the Vincent J. Maloney Marauders (8-2) 23-25, 17-25, 25-23, 25-23, 15-12.
Last year’s SAPEC title was the 13th for Simpson and Fowler has never won a championship in girls’ volleyball.
In the boys’ final, Lorne Akins is 10-0 (30 GW/4 GL) and Fowler is 8-2 (26 GW/8 GL).
Lorne Akins, the SAPEC tournament finalist, knocked off Fowler in league play 21-25, 25-23, 26-24, 25-22.
In the semifinals, Lorne Akins eliminated Simpson (6-4) 25-16, 25-11, 25-14 and Fowler knocked off the defending champion William D. Cuts Crusaders (7-3) 25-22, 25-14, 25-22.
Lorne Akins, last year’s city finalist, has won 15 city banners and the last one was 2016, while Fowler is going after its first boys’ volleyball championship.
Mission results
The St. Albert Mission U14AA ringette team returned home from Saskatoon as the repeat winner of the Bernadette Price Memorial Tournament.Jazzi Fevin and Eve Starchuk scored in Sunday’s 2-1 final against Calgary Red as the Mission finished 5-0 in the 10-team tournament.
Raegan Schulha, the team’s only netminder, shut the door in the last five minutes against some serious Calgary pressure.
In pool play, the Mission edged the Saskatoon Selects 5-4 on Fevin’s goal with 13 seconds remaining in the opening game, followed by wins of 12-4 against Manitoba Magic, 7-4 against Winnipeg Wild and 6-2 against Calgary Blue.
Fevin, an all-star team selection for the Mission at the 2018 Western Canadian Ringette Championships in Saskatoon, is among six returnees from the U14AA silver medallists at westerns and provincials that finished 41-9-3-1 overall as five-time second-place finishers in seven tournaments.
The St. Albert Ringette Association is hosting westerns, March 27 to 30 at Servus Credit Union Place.
The Mission’s record after the tournament victory is 12-4, including a 3-1 mark in league play.
The next tournament for the St. Albert Turkey Ring finalists in October is the Central Alberta AA Ice Breaker, Dec. 14 to 16 in Lacombe.
Meanwhile, the U16AA Mission placed third out of five teams in Saskatoon with a record of 2-2.
Results were 7-2 over the Saskatoon Selects, 6-2 loss to Calgary Impulse, 6-1 against Sherwood Park Power and 5-1 setback to the Sherwood Park Rage, the tournament winner by a score of 5-4 against Calgary.
The Turkey Ring champions are 7-4-2.
The U19AA Mission finished 1-1-2 in the eight-team draw at Saskatoon.
In pool play, the Mission lost 7-4 to the Regina Bandits, tied Calgary Rogue 6-6 and edged Sherwood Park Power 6-5 and in the playoff round settled for a 4-4 tie with Spruce Grove Riot.
The Mission are 6-3-4 after their first tournament of the season.
The U19AA team is scheduled to compete in the 33rd annual Wood Invitational, hosted by the Edmonton Ringette Club, Nov. 23 to 25 at Terwillegar Community Recreation Centre.
Sturgeon volleyball
The Sturgeon Spirits repeated as metro Edmonton division three senior men’s volleyball champions with 13 wins in 14 matches.Last week’s final against the Leduc Tigers (8-4) was 25-17, 23-25, 27-25, 25-20 for Sturgeon at Louis St. Laurent High School.
In league play, Sturgeon finished tied for first with the Memorial Marauders at 10-1 and was the top seed in the playoffs based on its 20-25, 20-25, 25-17, 25-23, 16-14 comeback decision against Memorial on Oct. 3.
Memorial lost to the Oscar Romeo Ravens (6-7) in five sets in the quarter-finals.
The only loss for Sturgeon was 25-11, 17-25, 25-13, 25-27, 16-18 against the Millwoods Christian Royals (4-8) Oct. 22.
Last year Sturgeon finished 12-1 for the team’s first metro Edmonton championship since 1999 in the city conference.
3A provincial zones
The St. Albert Skyhawks are hosting Friday’s pool B round robin in the eight-team 3A Edmonton zone provincial women’s volleyball qualifier.The first match for the Skyhawks is 2 p.m. against Beaumont Bandits or Louis St. Laurent Barons.
The Skyhawks will also play the Sturgeon Spirits at 7 p.m.
In the metro Edmonton league, the Skyhawks (4-8) placed eighth in division one and Sturgeon (6-6) tied for fifth in division two. Both teams were eliminated in their respective quarter-finals.
The pool A Edmonton Christian Lions (9-4), division one semifinalists, and the Skyhawks are ranked first and second, respectively, in the zone tournament.
Edmonton Christian is hosting Saturday’s playoffs, featuring the top three teams in the A and B pools, and the winner of the 3:30 p.m. final advances to provincials next weekend in Beaverlodge.
Meanwhile, the Skyhawks have a challenge match on tap today against Old Scona at 5 p.m. at the SkyDome and the winner is the eighth seed in the 3A men’s zone tournament.
The Skyhawks (1-10) finished last in division two and Old Scona (7-5) was sixth in division three as quarter-finalist.
If successful, the Skyhawks will play three round-robin matches Friday at Strathcona Christian Academy in Sherwood Park.
The division three champion Sturgeon Spirits are also competing for a spot at provincials next weekend at Rocky Mountain House.
