Riverside, Lutcher and Hahnville draw home games in bi-district round

By JOHNNY PEPPO

Sports Editor

The LHSAA state volleyball post-season begins this week with the bi-district round of play which features three squads from the River Parishes in home games. The state tournament is set to begin this Wednesday in the Ponchartrain Center in Kenner.

Hahnville, Lutcher and Riverside have each secured seeds in their respective division that should give them each a home court advantage, at least for the opening rounds. St. Charles, with the number ten seed in Division IV, is joined by St. James as they each have been scheduled with away games in the 2A bracket. Destrehan and East St. John also travel to play for the first round in the 5A bracket, facing high-ranked Lafayette and Dutchtown respectively.

Lady Rebs host Curtis

Riverside volleyball is familiar with their opening round opponent John Curtis as the Lady Rebels have seen the Lady Patriots twice in the last month for district games, topping Curtis in both match-ups. With a 30-7 season record after going undefeated through district, the Riverside squad has earned a number four seed. Curtis enters the game with the tenth seed.

The Lady Rebels have distributed the offensive opportunities this year, with assist leader Nicole Porrier setting up the kills and Marci Millet, Heidi Garcich, Ashley Heckathorn and Jessica Price at the net. Ashley Forstall and Heather LeBlanc have contributed with aces from the server’s box and chipped in on the defensive side along with Kaitlyn Millet.

Lutcher nabs five seed

In the Division III bracket, Lutcher has been scheduled with a home game against Patterson. The Lady Bulldogs’ five seed for the post-season came on the heels of this season’s 21-11 record. The winner of this match would likely face the number four seeded Notre Dame in the state tournament set for Thursday, who was a semi-finalist in the Division III bracket last season.

The Lady Bulldogs are led this season by

HHS ranked in Top Ten

Hahnville’s Lady Tigers are rated among the best in large schools in volleyball this season after going 29-8 through the regular schedule. Their bi-district round against Central should go for a HHS victory, but their next game would almost surely be against a Dominican squad that should challenge for a finalist finish. Hahnville is led this year by Trashan Glenn, Nadia Cox, Danielle Douglas and Raven Scott.

The remaining four teams from the River Parishes would seem to have a difficult path in the early rounds. St. Charles bi-district game against North Iberville appears relatively evenly matched. But the winner will, in all likelihood, face the number two seeded University, who was a semi-finalist year before falling to state champion Episcopal.

St. James, Destrehan and East St. John all drew low seeds entering the post-season and face an uphill battle in a hostile environment for their opening games. St. James will face number one seeded Iota in Division IV while DHS goes to Lafayette and ESJ heads to Dutchtown for Division I match-ups.