LeBouef taking Lady Tigers to new state heights

By KEVIN CHIRI

Publisher

HAHNVILLE – The Hahnville Lady Tiger volleyball team is still basking in the glory of the best finish in school history.

Making it all the way to the Division I state semi-finals before losing to eventual state champ St. Joseph’s, the Hahnville girls not only made it past the first round of playoff action at the state tournament this year. But they continued winning all the way to the state semi’s.

Now the question for the Hahnville program and coach Mendi LeBouef is how can they move to the final level.

“Teams like St. Joseph’s play club ball and basically have girls who are playing eight to nine months out of the year,” LeBouef said. “That is tough for us to compete against when our girls play about three to four months a year.”

The club ball circuit is the serious venue for volleyball players, taking girls into a year-round program. At Hahnville, the success this year was even more impressive when you note that only one girl on the team had a single year of club experience.

“The neat thing to see was that as soon as our season ended, a number of girls were starting to ask about playing club ball,” LeBouef said. “The success we had this year is very motivational for everyone involved to push harder, and to seek the next level.”

Hahnville finished the season with a 26-11 overall record, winning over McDonough 35, then Barbe at the state tournament before losing to state champ St. Joe’s.

“Just to play a team like that is great for our program,” LeBouef said. “It shows our younger players where we want to go.”

Even though Hahnville lost the match, 25-20, 25-16, 25-11, their head coach said her girls never let up against the talented champs.

Sasha Leech led the team with 17 assists, while Kaswana Isaac had six kills, then Marquita Hill and Shunta Isaac had five kills each.

“Our girls never layed down in the match,” LeBouef said. “We battled the whole way. But it’s tough playing a team with that much more experience. The difference is that they just don’t make any mistakes, and they don’t panic regardless of what is happening.”

Now the Hahnville program has to look at next year, when they have to rebuild after losing four of six starters.

“Our athletes were just as good, maybe better, than the girls they have. But the experience level is so different. We’ve just got to get back to work with some young girls again and try to move to the next level. It was exciting to be playing in the state semi’s and it is only a big boost for this program to have made it this far,” the head coach added.