DAY 4: Volleyball Championship round

Day 2 Recaps
Day 3 Recaps

Division I
St. Joe's defeats Mount Carmel 3-0 in the Division I final.

Through her tears, Caitlin Clarke slipped up and called her coach by her first name. No one corrected her.

At the end of a long day, it didn't matter. It only showed how close the senior is with her coach. Clarke, fellow senior Emily Mesa and head coach April Hagadone walked out of the media interview room, arms locked around each others shoulders, holding each other up.

Mount Carmel fell in the Division I finals 25-23, 25-18, 25-23 to St. Joseph's, ending the Cubs' attempt at back-to-back championships one match too short.

"I definitely think St. Joe's outplayed us tonight," Hagadone saie. "We had a good year, but they outplayed us. They wanted it more when they came in. They came out fighting. We were a little lax, I don't know why."

No matter what Mount Carmel tried, St. Joe's was there with something better, be it a big block, a big kill or a big dig. The Redstickers didn't let anything touch the floor. St. Joe's Kaitlin Hatcher came up with 12 digs, and her effort earned her the MVP.

For Mesa, the loss is bittersweet. She played at St. Joe's during her sophomore year following Katrina. She's close with this group of girls.

"If anyone was going to come in here and beat us today, I'm really glad it was them," a visibly emotional Mesa said. "They brought their A game and we came up short. It hurts, but it's good to see them win this year. If it couldn't be us, it should have been them."

The win gives St. Joe's a 2-1 season series win over the Cubs (36-3), winning the last two meetings of the season.

Mount Carmel took the early lead in the opening game, racing ahead to 10-4. And then back came St. Joe's, eventually taking a 15-14 lead.

"We might have thought we had a call, and we lost the call and it changed the whole momentum fo the game," Hagadone said. "But it shouldn't have come down to that in the first place. We just came out real strong, but backed off a little bit.

"Usually we come out strong and we finish. We just had trouble finishing tonight."

No team took a commanding lead. It was tied at 21, 22 and 23 before St. Joe's won the final two points, the game-clincher coming when a Mount Carmel hit found the net.

Momentum gained from a game one win was fleeting. In fact, it didn't even transfer over. Neither team owned a lead larger than a point until St. Joe's ewent up 14-12. Mount Carmel closed back to 16-15 before the Redstickers finished the game on a 9-3 run.

Mount Carmel showed life in the third game, leading 7-2 early. But St. Joe's rallied, tying the game at 11. It held a lead until the Cubs pushed ahead when St. Joe's hit into the net.

And again the match went to back and forth scoring. Mount Carmel found itself with a 23-20 before Carol-Ann Bryant came up with a block. Allison Lasseigne recorded an ace to pull within 23-22 and Mount Carmel called timeout.

On the next point, the Cubs' Stephanie Falk couldn't quite get the ball over the net and suddenly, what was a promising third game finish for Mount Carmel turned into a 23-23 tie. Abbie Legendre got a block for St. Joe's to give the Redstickers match point, and Lasseigne sent her team into a frenzy with a championship-point ace.

"I don't know what to say," St. Joe's head coach Sivi Miller said. "We knew coming into this tournament Mount Carmel was going to give us the best game match."

Division II
Cabrini defeats St. Michael's 3-1 for the Division II title in the best volleyball played today. All three games were tied at either 22, 23 or 25.

Greg Castillo made his way towards the side of the stands where Cabrini's fans made themselves known all afternoon.

And then he gave several emphatic fist pumps, letting out emotion rarely seen from a coach who stays nearly motionless in his seat during matches.

Cabrini defeated St. Michael's 26-24, 25-23, 23-25, 27-25 to take the Division II state championship in by far the closest match of the four-day session at the Pontchartrain Center.

"You want to say the best team won, but both teams wer great teams," Castillo said. "We were just fortunate to win."

All four games were come-from-behind. All four games were tied at either 23, 24 or 25.

Cabrini (28-15) won the first game with an ace the point after senior Kasey Laird gave the Crescents game point with a kill.

Cabrini won game two when sophomore Alexis Robichaux came up with two kills.

The Crescents trailed both games until tying at 18 and 17, respectively.

"In between the second and third games, I said whoever gets the early lead doesn't end up winning," Castillo said. "Inside I was panicking when we were down six or seven. But I know how our team plays. They fight back."

And then Cabrini took an early lead in game three. Bad move. It went ahead 16-9. St. Michael's came back and tied it at 17, Cabrini forged back ahead 20-17, and then St. Michael's tied it at 22 before winning the three of the final four points.

St. Michael's then did what it shouldn't have -- it took a 15-10 fourth game lead. Cabrini came back, of course, and the game was back and forth until the end, when Laird clinched the match with her team-high 19th kill.

"I saw two hands," Laird said. "I'm not intimidated by a block."

Robichaux and Kayla McGee had five blocks, Laird had six aces, Taylor Zeigler added 23 assists and Angela Calico contributed 31 digs in the win.

Division III Finals
Notre Dame defeats E.D. White 3-0.
Mary Cavell has been here before. For what is now the fifth-straight season, the Cardinals are the runners-up in the state volleyball tournament.

But no matter what the final result is, Cavell will continue doing things.

"As far as curses, Cinderella, all that stuff, I say it every year and I know I ahve to go through it -- yeah it hurts," Cavell said. "But I'm in coaching for more than that. I coach high school sports to teach lessons."

E.D. White (34-8) didn't have an answer for Notre Dame's Rosemary Cook. She finished with 23 kills and two blocks and time and again put the ball in the dead part of the Cardinals' defense.

"They stopped everything we tried to hit at them," Cavell said. "No. 9 (Cook) was unbelievable."

With Notre Dame up 20-11 in the first game, E.D. White forged what looked like it could be a tournament-winning rally, winning nine straight points to tie the game at 20-20. But Notre Dame has an answer, winning five of the next seven points to take the game.

The hangover from the devestating game one loss might have hung around too long in the second game. Notre Dame jumped out to a 16-4 lead and never was really threatened the rest of the game.

"They changed their tempo very well offensively," Cavell said. "We started to read better in the second and third games, but I don't think we were smart offensively as well as they were."

After a nip and tuck first 35 points in the third game, Notre Dame had too much in the tank. Mayme Cook took Notre Dame to the brink of the title with six straight points on her serve to give Notre Dame match point. White couldn't recover.

"Every year you set out and you have this goal in mind," Notre Dame head coach Tara Young said. "We've been so close the last few years."

Hailey Silverii led the Cardinals with five kills and two blocks, while Kathryn Stock added four kills, eight blocks and two aces. Also for White, Jessica Politz had 15 assists, Lindsey Constant had 13 digs and Alaina Toups added 11 digs.

Division IV
Newman defeats University 3-0
Colleen Loerzel preaches playing quickly during Newman practices. Saturday, in the Division IV finals against University Lab, the Greenies' fast, aggressive style of play paid off.

Newman took down University 25-20, 25-15, 25-12 to win its first state championship since taking the Division III title in 2004. It's Newmans 16th state volleyball title.

The Greenies finished the season 41-3.

"We've always practiced with a quicker play," senior McKell Favrot said. "It's definitely provided us with some advantages this season. It's something we worked hard at, and it has definitely helped."

University kept pace through most of the third game. After University pulled to within 6-5, Newman ran off a 10-4 run. The Greenies eventually pushed the lead to 22-13, but University fought back, rallying to cut the Newman lead to 24-20. But a Favrot kill finished the game in Newman's favor.

Game 2 went much the same - close early before Newman pushed the lead to an insurmountable margin. University was as close as 10-8 before the Greenies quickened the pace of play.

"I felt like we had seven seniors who came and stepped up and were ready to play," Loerzel said. "They played aggressively, served tough and passed well. That's why we had success."

University wouldn't go quietly, though. It jumped out in game 3 to a 4-1 lead and pushed it to 7-3 before Newman could get going. Neman finally took the lead for good at 13-12 on a Rhegan Wollerman kill.

For a team that had basically dominated the tournament from the outset, the beginning to the third game was a bit out of character.

"I think we were really, really excited about we had won the first two and we had one more win to go," said Wollerman, who led Newman with 11 kills. "Kind of the excitement took over a little bit and I think maybe our aggressiveness was almost over excited. It affected our technique and stuff."

Casey Craighead led Newman with 20 digs and seven aces, Taylor Warshauer had 20 assists and Krstal Chigbu added two blocks.

Division V Finals
Northlake Christian defeats Episcopal of Acadiana 3-0
The Wolverines won their first state volleyball state championship in resounding fashion, obliterating defending state champion ESA, the same team that sent Northlake Christian packing a year ago in the quarterfinals.

The final score 25-17,16,18. And it didn't even seem that close.

"Northlake Christian was ready, playing aggressive," ESA head coach Becky Madden said. "Their front row lineup -- they were coming from all angles."

Northlake Christian didn't trail in the first game. ESA cut an early lead down to 4-2, and then the Wolverines (28-10) took off, going on a 11-2 run that put ESA on its heels. After ESA cut the lead back to within three at 15-12, the Wolverines ended the game on a 10-5 run.

Game two was much closer through the first 16 points. Then Northlake became the aggressor, running off eight straight pionts for a 16-8 lead. This time, ESA wilted, never pushing the Wolverines.

Up 21-10 in the third game, Northlake appeared in solid control. Nevertheless, ESA showed life, winning seven of the next nine pionts. But it was too late, and the Wolverines finished of the match on a Monica Raymond kill.

"We came out with so much intensity because we lost to them last year in the quarterfinals," Northlake's Hannah Miranda said. "We played exactly how they played today. Last year, they came out with the intensity and they were ready.

"But this year, coming so close the past three years, you want it so bad and you're willing to do whatever, and when you come out with big leads in every game and you don't backtrack, you're going to win the game."

Different players came up big all three games. In the first game, Mallory Horridge came alive, firing winner after winner into the court. In game two, both Horridge and Brittany Scearce controlled the play. And in game three, Scearce and Hannah Miller came through.

"We all wanted to win," said Horridge, who finished with 12 kills and 11 digs. "We all came out with the same intensity. All came out with that mentality and we call came out tough."

For head coach Michelle Anderson, the win was sweet. After a season full of injuries, the team became healthy at just the right time.

"It was incredibly awesome to see them go out there and perform like me and (assistant) Jimmy (Miranda) and a few other people know how great they are, how good they are," Anderson said.

The three-game sweep did one other thing for the coach.

"It was very enjoyable watching from the bench," Anderson said. "They turned the coach into a cheerleader."

Raymod led Northlake with 15 kill, and Scearce added eight; Miranda had 40 assists and five aces; and Hannah Miller had 26 digs.