Sweeping the city junior high volleyball final for the second consecutive year was extra special for the Sir George Simpson Voyageurs. “It’s pretty exciting. It’s very rare for one school to win it a few years in a row,” said captain Aryana Anderson after Thursday’s victory against the Lorne Akins Gators at Bellerose Composite High School. The St. Albert Physical Education Council championship banner is the fifth in eight years and the 13th in school history for the lady Voyageurs. The SAPEC record for girls is 14 by the Vincent J. Maloney Marauders, the 2015 winners. “We’ve won it a lot and it’s nice to see that Simpson is a good athletic school,” said Anderson, a Grade 9 setter. Visit www.stalbertgazette.com to view the team’s banner picture. Simpson rolled over the Gators 25-18, 25-23, 25-15 after dispatching the Richard S. Fowler Falcons 25-20, 25-19, 25-13 the year before. “It was more exciting this time. There was more intensity and we really pushed through,” said Anderson, one of six players on the roster from last year's 10-0 team. “It was just as good of a victory as it was last year,” added Jamie Stolk, a solid five-foot-nine middle and returning Voyageur. Simpson (10-1, 32 GW/6 GL) also beat the Gators (8-3, 25 GW/16 GL) in league play in three sets by scores of 25-21, 25-20, 25-15 Oct. 3. “This match was definitely tougher because of the fans. It was a lot louder,” said Stolk of competing in front of a stoked-up crowd at the annual SAPEC sports spectacle. “It was just more hyped up.” Simpson started strong with an eight-point run and several were off serves by Anderson after the Gators opened the scoring. Anderson’s aggressive serving also played a role as Simpson strung five points together to lead 20-11. Stolk’s point off a block made it 23-18 as Simpson quickly wrapped up the first set. The next set looked like a runaway for the Gators with 10 points in a row before Simpson got on the board. Steady serving by Emma Kluttig, captain of the Gators, and the net presence of Bridget Maxwell and Jessica Headrick put Simpson into a deep hole. Simpson cued the comeback after a timeout and trailing 13-2. “The coach (Dianne Worthington) told us to just take a deep breath and we got our heads into the game,” Stolk said. A stretch of five consecutive points by Simpson was followed by three for the Gators before the Voyageurs busted loose with 10 straight as Jillian Aisenstat’s serving played a major role in the defending champs leading 17-16. The Gators regroup to hold the upper hand at 20-17 and then 23-20 before Simpson rattled off five points and the last three were generated through Ella Friesen’s serving. Friesen and Stolk also made an impact at the net with timely plays for the 21st and 22nd points. “When we fell apart we picked ourselves up and we just kept going,” said Anderson, 14, the team’s player of the game. “Once someone messes up we all kind of get down and then it just takes one of us to do something good to bring our intensity back up.” The third set didn’t last very long as Simpson wasted little time compiling leads of 8-2, 13-7, 19-11 and 21-12 as Julia Stolic’s serving and big plays at the net by Stolk and Friesen wrapped up the championship clincher. “It’s great we were able to push through,” Stolk said. “It was tough at times but we kept our feet moving and when we put our passes together we got through this game.” The SAPEC tournament finalists in late September suffered their only loss Oct. 26 to Maloney (6-4, 19 GW/18 GL) in a rollercoaster 15-25, 14-25, 25-17, 25-14, 10-15 affair. “Overall we just got better as a team. We spent time practicing to get to where we needed to go,” said Stolk, 14, one of seven Grade 9s on the roster. “There was a close bond between us too and that’s why we play as a team.”
