By GEORGE MAHL

BOUTTE – Destrehan High School volleyball player Atina Porter recently proved why she is considered by many to be the top player in the River Parishes.

Her 19 kills led the DHS Lady Cats to a 15-9, 17-15 victory over the Hahnville High School Lady Tigers in Boutte.

“Atina is such a leader. It’s not hard for her to step up when she has to,” said Destrehan head coach Calvin Ike.

Trailing 14-12 in the second game, the Lady Cats rallied to take a 15-14 lead when Flora Brown’s return kill shot was called long by the referee.

With the score tied at 15, Porter blocked a Lady Tigers kill to put her team up 16-15. An excellent serve by Arianne Walker forced HHS (19-5) to back pedal, which forced a net ball on the return serve.

“I am very proud of all of our girls. This is the best they have played all season,” Ike said.

The first game saw DHS jump out to a quick 5-0 lead thanks in part to Porter’s three kills. However, the Lady Tigers rallied to cut the lead to 5-4. Kills by Flora Brown and aces from Ashley Boudreaux and Trina Brown cut the Destrehan (24-4) lead to one. Two more aces from server Hollin Dufrene enabled Hahnville to take a 7-5 lead.

Those aces appeared to wake up the Lady Cats. Porter’s kill broke the Hahnville serve to begin a 7-0 run. During the run, Porter had three kills and two blocks to give Destrehan a 12-8 lead.

“We played well today, but there is always room for improvement,” Porter said.

The second game saw HHS jump out to a 6-3 lead. Sasha Leech’s solid serving enabled the Lady Tigers to jump out to a quick lead.

Although Porter’s serving pulled Destrehan into a tie, 6-6, a block and then a kill by Porter lifted DHS to a 12-8 lead.

Hahnville coach Mendi Lebeouf said her players did not play up their potential.

“We made way too many errors out there. Our players were nervous during the game. I don’t think we ever settled down,” Lebeouf said.

St. Charles Catholic versus Lutcher

LUTCHER – St. Charles Catholic High School won a district 3A match recently against Lutcher High School, 7-15, 15-9, 16-14. The LHS Lady Bulldogs had several chances to put the third game away but could not. Leading 14-9, Lutcher served the ball into the net two consecutive times to give SCC a chance to mount a comeback. The Lady Comets then went on a 7-0 run to cap off an amazing comeback. The Lady Comets were able to drop the ball into the middle of the court where there were no defenders.

Things did not get off to a good start for SCC. They trailed 7-0 until Brittany Vicknair got them on the board with an ace. Solid play helped the Lady Bulldogs jump out to a 13-1 lead. Kills from Ciji Leblanc, Lyndi Martin and Lauri Martin broke the game open. Good serving by Brandi Hoover and Brittany Vicknair cut the LHS lead to 14-7. The SCC servers served the ball deep into the backcourt, making it difficult at times for the Lady Bulldogs to set plays up. Cary Roussel made two big plays in the first game to give Lutcher the victory. The first was a kill that gave LHS a side out. Roussel then nailed an ace to end the first game and give the Lady Bulldogs a 15-7 win.

SCC turned the momentum around in the second game. Thanks in large part to the play of Amanda Helm, the Lady Comets jumped out to an 11-4 lead. During the run, Helm had two kills and three aces. However, Lutcher came back thanks to the serving of Lyndi Martin. After both teams broke serve seven consecutive times, Lutcher’s Ryshelle Lemar blocked an attempted kill to cut the lead to 11-9. However, an ace, courtesy of Helm, followed by a kill from Vicknair, got the win for St. Charles Catholic, 15-9.