The Sir George Simpson Voyageurs added another championship banner to their wall of fame after winning the SAPEC girls’ volleyball final.
Thursday’s four-set triumph against the Lorne Akins Gators was the 10th city crown in school history and the sixth in nine years for the lady Voyageurs.
“It’s really exciting for our school,” Grade 9 middle Kira Mann told the Gazette during the team’s post-game celebration.
Only the Vincent J. Maloney Marauders have won more SAPEC titles in girls’ volleyball than Simpson with 12.
“It’s such extreme pride to win it. It’s wonderful, just overwhelming really,” Mann said.
Scores were 25-15, 27-29, 25-11, 25-10 at Bellerose Composite High School.
“It’s so perfect to finish like we did,” captain Haley Cabral said while hugging the coveted SAPEC trophy. “We haven’t won a banner in volleyball since 2008 so it feels pretty amazing.”
Simpson also went the distance without losing a match.
“We really wanted to keep up with our undefeatedness,” Mann said. “We really connected and worked really well together. Our coach [Diane Worthington] is pretty amazing too.”
In league play and playoffs combined, Simpson served up an 8-0 (24 GW/ 3 GL) record. The Gators finished 6-3 (21 GW/13 GL).
“It was a great season for us. Everyone is so happy,” Cabral said. “As a team our movement definitely was very good. We were very good at attacking too. We barely gave [teams] points. We made them make mistakes.”
During league play Simpson beat the third-place Gators 25-18, 25-11, 23-25, 25-16.
In the semifinals, Simpson swept the fourth-place Richard S. Fowler Falcons 25-18, 26-24, 25-10 and the Gators knocked off the second-place Marauders, last year’s playoff winners, 25-18, 25-23, 13-25, 16-25, 15-10.
Simpson dominated the final except the second set marathon.
“Our movement was amazing. Our hits were exact. We were ready to pick up all their tips,” Cabral said. “We were just into the game. We wanted it really bad.”
In the first set Simpson opened the scoring and never surrendered the lead. Several points came off errors. A run of eight straight points made it 13-5 for Simpson and the set ended with five in a row. Mann was a strong presence on the floor hitting and serving. Emma Cunningham and Cabral also connected for key points and Jacqueline Johnston’s serves down the stretch capped off the set.
The Gators rebounded in the second set with tighter defence and tougher hits to defend against. Leading by one, they racked up eight consecutive points as Simpson started feeling the heat. Sarah Mae White’s serving also kept Simpson off-balance.
“We were a bit nervous about making mistakes,” Cabral said.
After a block by Marinya Marchinci widened the gap to 21-15, Simpson started to play like it had in the previous set. During a six-point run Simpson pulled ahead by one, but a serve into the net allowed the Gators to knot it at 24. Three times Simpson was in position to win by two points but the Gators kept the set alive. The turning point was Morgan Scott’s serve that lifted the Gators in front at 28-27. The next play saw Simpson bump the ball into the stands to give the Gators the set.
“It’s unfortunate we lost that set. It was really close. We kept going point by point,” Mann said.
Simpson shook off the rare loss by overpowering the Gators during the next two sets.
“We were a little upset [after the second set] but it was just one game. We knew we could pull it through. We gave it our best and put everything into it. We left it all on the court,” said Cabral, a Grade 9 power with lots of pepper in her hits.
Simpson closed out the fourth set with a nine-point rout. Mann’s hitting gave the Gators trouble. Johnston, Cabral and Sarah Worthington also chipped in with points during the lengthy scoring spree.
In the fourth set Simpson jumped ahead 6-1 and kept on cruising. The outcome was pretty much a done deal during an 11-point run by Simpson for a commanding 21-7 lead.
“It was pretty crazy at the end,” Mann said. “We just kept on going and when [the set] was over it felt really good.”
