LHSAA Volleyball Day 2: Schedule and recaps

Sacred Heart defeats Catholic-N.I. 3-2 (22-25, 25-23, 9-25, 25-20, 15-13)
Sacred Heart improved to 21-17 with the hard-fought win, putting out the tournament's No. 3 seed.

Mae Casey had 16 kills, Taylor Jones added 12 blocks, Kristina Crouch had five aces and 21 digs and Margueritte Henry finished with 30 assists in the win for Sacred Heart.

Dominican defeats H.L. Bourgeois 3-1 (25-19, 19-25, 25-12, 25-19)
After H.L. Bourgeois put out No. 7 seed Barbe in the opening round of the Division I tournament, Dominican head coach Jessica Chattelier expected a tough match. She got one.

"it was definitely everything I thought it would be," Chattalier said. "They play hard. They're so athletic. They didn't give us anything."

And while Dominican jumped out to that 1-0 lead, it was how Chattelier's team responded that showed they learned something from last year's defeat in the state tournament.

"When we went home last year, it was a hard-fought match," Chattelier said. "They learned that you've got to fight for everything you get."

And so they did, fighting back to take a 2-1 lead with a dominating third game. Then Dominican held off HLB in Game 4 to take the match.

"After Game 2, they came out down," Chattelier said. "I think it hit home. We had to step up and play or we were going home."

St. Joseph's defeats Chalmette 3-0 (25-15,14, 21)
It's not necessarily easy playing anyone once you get to the Ponchartrain Center. But for Chalmette, playing traditional power and defending Division I champion St. Joe's was even harder.

"We knew what we were up against," Chalmette coach Kelli Plaiscia said. "But we knew if we played well, we'd have a chance. We knew we had to be pretty flawless to beat them."

Alas, the Owls weren't on top of the game for the entirety of the match, and it cost them.

"We didn't play horrible but we really didn't play our best," Plaiscia said. "You don't want to do that in general, but you don't want to do it against a good team like St. Joe's.

"We were on our A game, but only in spurts. When you get to this level, you need to be on your A game all the time."

Newman defeats Episcopal 3-0 (25-19, 25-17, 28-26)
After two relatively easy games, you'd think Newman would have the third in the bag.

Guess again. The Greenies staved off game-point three times and finally put the match away when a ball hit by Episcopal fell harmlessly out of bounds in front of the Newman bench, setting off a frenzied celebration.

"I'm so proud of my girls and the way they played," Newman head coach Colleen Loerzel said. "The pursued balls. The played tough. That's what we want to do every game."

Despite a healthy 2-0 lead, Newman was prepared for a fight. And it got one.

"Episcopal is a great team, a rich volleyball tradition," Loerzel said. "We knew they were going to fight."

It was another good experience for Loerzel and the Greenies, who won the Division IV title in the Pontchartrain Center a year ago.

"We love the Pontchartrain Center," Loerzel said. "It's a great venue. It's a volleyball atmosphere."

Taylor Warshaver led Newman with four aces and 26 assists. The Greenies also got 11 kills from Emily Drennan, a block apiece from Celeste Favrot and Taylor Rees, and 24 digs from Brittany Goodman.

Mount Carmel defeats St. Scholastica 3-0 (25-5, 25-21, 25-17)
Mount Carmel lost six girls from the school's 2007 state runner-up squad. The Cubs are still rolling, however.

"A lot of the younger girls had to step up," Mount Carmel head coach April Hagadone said. "Only 50 percent had Pontchartrain experience."

The opening game didn't portend exactly how this one was going to go, but it set a tone that Mount Carmel is still the team to beat. Two matches down. Two to go get the elusive state title.

"SSA is a great team," Hagadone said. "They're a good defensive team. They're libero is phenomenal."

Hagadone wasn't surprised that SSA didn't give in after getting pummeled in the opener.

And now Mount Carmel gets a shot at Fontainebleau, a team it was supposed to play in early September. Hurricane Gustav nixed that, but the Cubs have experience against Fontainebleau - Mount Carmel beat the Bulldogs in last year's semifinals.

"It's going to be a good match," Hagadone said. "Another rematch. They remember the semifinals."

Paige Gantar led the Cubs (31-4) with 12 kills while Emily Pepperman had 31 digs. Also for Mount Carmel, Taylor Vanderwerff had eight blocks, Kaylynn Genemaras and Victoria Boraski each had an ace and Brittany Fields had 17 assists.

Cabrini defeats Leesville 3-0 (25-11, 16, 12)
The Crescents opened defense of their Division II title with a quick one, taking Leesville down in 50 minutes. Cabrini made a team that came into the state tournament 20-3 look like a JV squad.

"We didn't know anything about Leesville," Cabrini head coach Greg Castillo said. "I told them to expect the unexpected."

Castillo and the Crescents (22-14) found out quickly what they were in store for - an overmatched team.

He knew the match was in hand as early as 3-0 in the opening game.

"When a coach calls timeout at 3-0, you know," he said. "I told the girls when a coach call a timeout that quick, it's a panic timeout."

Cabrini now will play St. Michael's in a rematch of last year's state championship match. The schools are 1-1 against each other this year.

Alexis Robichaux led Cabrini with 13 kills and 30 blocks, Taylor Zeigler added three aces and 27 assists, and Sharon Rainey had 16 digs.

Lutcher defeats Westlake 3-1 (25-20, 25-23, 21-25, 25-21)
The Bulldogs moved into their first-even semifinal with the win a day after defeating St. Charles Catholic for the first time this season.

Lutcher (28-7) was led by Holly Martin's three aces and 11 assists. She was helped by Kayla Brady's eight kills, Maci Matherne's six blocks and Katie Ocmand's 19 digs.

Fontainebleaus defeats St. Thomas More 3-1 (25-16, 24-26, 27-25, 25-19)
Wednesday night, Danny Tullis' Fontainebleau team was hassled by an quick, athletic Assumption team. He had less than 24 hours to prepare for the exact opposite Thursday.

Regardless of the amount of time, he did the trick and Fontainebleau moves on to face the winner of the Mount Carmel-St. Scholastica match.

"St. Thomas More played incredible defense," Tullis said. "They did a great job coming back. They were out of sync in that first game."

He added, "We had to go so deep in rallies. Just go deep and not commit the errors."

Getting going after dropping the second game was key for Fontainebleau, Tullis said. And he liked the way his girls responded.

"We could have laid down after we lost the second game," Tullis said.

And now he'll watch the next match on the same court his team just won, scouting his next opponent.

"There are no easy roads," Tullis said. "But we felt our was real tough."

For Fontainebleau (34-6), Lindsey Barron had 21 kills and 16 digs, Jessica Guttierrez had 10 kills and five blocks, Michelle Cabeceiras added two aces and 24 assists, McCrea Barney had 26 assists, and Caitlyn Auxilien had 18 digs.

Country Day defeats Northside Christian 3-0 (25-11,22,9)
Julie Ibieta has only four seniors on her Country Day team. She carries no juniors and two sophomores. The rest are freshmen and 8th graders.

And still the Cajuns cruised, in large part because of freshman Amber Cooper, who is strong at the net, and 8th-grader Katherine Broussard, who accounts for a good bit of Country Day's offense.

"Our team has played very well the last few weeks," Country Day head coach Julie Ibieta said. "I like their attitude. They're doing what we're asking."

As has been the case for much of the tournament's top contenders, the Cajuns had to survived a strong second game from Northside before rolling in the third game.

The reward? Playing defending Division V state champion Northlake Christian on Friday at 1:30 p.m. Normally, that could spell trouble for a young team.

But Ibieta's Cajuns might buck the trend. They've already earned a No. 2 seed for the postseason.

"They were all calm," she said of Thursday's win. "They're excited about being here. They're playing well. They're kids who all know how to play the game."

Broussard had 11 kills, three aces and nine digs to pace the Cajuns, who also got 11 kills from Cooper, three aces each from Scout Beron and Gracie Janson, 19 assists from Taylor Falcon and nine digs from Sara Whitehead.

St. Martin's defeats Houma Christian 3-1 (17-25, 25-19, 13, 23)
Maryclaire Manard had five aces and 18 assists to pace St. Martin's into the Division V semifinals. Amy Perkins added 17 kills and two blocks, and Lauren Sutter had 10 digs for St. Martin's.

John Curtis defeats Riverside 3-1 (25-11, 25-20, 29-31, 25-18)
Ashley Henderson recorded 31 kills and five aces to help the Patriots move on in the Division IV tournament. Curtis also had Lindsey Scallan dish out 58 assists, Lacey Huxen get 13 digs and Ashley Seeman add six blocks.

McGehee defeats Westminster 3-0 (25-14, 26-24, 25-16)
Just getting to the Ponchartrain Center is tough enough. But having a tough first-round match isn't exactly what McGehee coach Val Whitfield-Dunn would prefer.

"As a coach, I'd like to win 25-0, but that's unrealistic," Whitfield-Dunn said. "I just want to be competitive. We never underestimate our opponent. That's one our goals."

On Thursday, she got what she wanted - a competitive match that pushed her team.

After rolling in the first game, it took a big service game from captain Kendall Fritchie to help boost the Hawks to the win.

And from there, they cruised.

"It wasn't easy," Whitfield-Dunn said. "That team is a very good defensive team. But it's nice to have one under your belt for sure."

The next step for the Hawks comes against the winner of Dunham-University Lab.

"Pass, set, hit - do the process and the execution, you should be fine," she said.

Sam Tillery led McGehee with 11 kills, five blocks and 10 assists, while Meg Adams added five blocks and Lindsey Baker recorded three aces and 19 digs..

Northlake Christian defeats Delcambre 3-0 (25-12,23,16)
Michelle Anderson's club swept its opening match in the state tournament, a relief for the head coach who knows opponents are gunning after Northlake (28-12), the defending Division V state champions.

"We haven't made a big deal of it," Anderson said. "I tell them that the hunters are coming. Instead of us being the hunters, we're the ones being hunted down. And the hunters are getting closer and closer and closer."

Thursday, against Delcambre, only the second game was close. Down by four points with Delcambre getting closer to 25, Northlake turned their game on, passed the Panthers and clinched a 2-0 lead.

"The good thing is we didn't play our best," Anderson said. "To their credit, they served exceptionally well. But we hung in there and that's a true test of a good team."

Keeping Delcambre off the board was pertinent, she said.

"If they win out and win that game, they get confident and they soar," Anderson said.

Monica Raymond and Brittany Scearce each had 17 kills, with Scearce adding four blocks for Northlake. Also for the Wolverines, Hannah Miller had 12 digs, Hannah Miranda added 30 assists and Angela Barrios contributed four aces.