St. Scholastica Academy’s Doves took care of business Friday downing their district rival Slidell Lady Tigers, 25-15, 25-17, 25-23, at home in the bi-district round of the Louisiana High School volleyball playoffs.

SSA (30-10), the No. 9 seed, topped Slidell (16-14), the No. 24 seed. SSA ended District 5-I play in third place with a 10-4 mark, while Slidell came in fourth with an 8-6 record.

SSA junior Camille Walther tallied a team-high eight kills with 12 digs to spark the Doves. Senior libero Sam Delahoussaye turned in a match-high 23 digs. Junior setter Meghan Clark delivered 23 assists, while Kristi Harrison notched seven kills with Audrey Gitz contributing five kills and four aces. Christina Wurm chipped in with five kills and Shelby Fritscher had three key blocks.

Slidell'€™s Hannah Gambrell (25) tries for a kill with SSA'€™s Shelby Fritscher at the net during Friday'€™s bi-district round playoff game played at SSA. (Staff Photo by Mike Pervel)

SSA coach Danny Davis said he thought his club did a great job, stepping up playing better than they had in their previous four matches.

“We had not looked very good in our last few matches. Our players did a nice job in the first two games. I’m particularly proud of the third game being down 21-14, and being able to come all the way back. Normally that doesn’t happen in rally scoring. Our defense really turned it up, and the front line blocking came into play,” Davis said.

Slidell freshman Quinci Hayward knocked down a match-high 13 kills followed by Hannah Gambrell with six. Senior Kaitlyn Crippin topped the Lady Tigers with 13 assists. Victoria Gough came up with seven digs and two aces.

In game one, SSA took a 3-1 lead on a kill by Gitz. She then ran off three points including an ace for a six-point margin. Crippin got a kill, but Slidell was unable to take advantage. SSA’s Walther tallied on a dink followed by Delahoussaye, who clicked on three straight points with an ace to build 10-2 lead.

With Slidell trailing 23-12, Gough served two points coming on a couple of SSA unforced errors. SSA’s Walther spanked a kill to put away game one 25-15.

Slidell got out quickly in game two, taking a 4-0 lead on an unforced error and three serves by Crippin. Hayward knocked down two consecutive kills during the run.

Trailing 6-3, Delahoussaye reeled off seven consecutive points to regain the lead for the Lady Doves at 10-6. Later SSA’s Fritscher drilled a kill to make it 13-8. Clark put away four serves to build a 17-8 margin.

Slidell’s Allison Dolan hit for the next two points on an unforced error and a block by Gambrell. Trailing 20-13, Crippin did her best to get the Lady Tigers back in game with three points with Hayward nailing two kills. Gitz got the Doves back on track with a kill. She then blasted three consecutive aces for a commanding 24-16 advantage before SSA took game two 25-17 on a net serve.

Slidell cam out quick in game three, again getting a 3-0 lead behind Whitney Campbell’s three service points with Hayward recording a block and Dolan finishing off a kill. Later Hayward tallied on a kill to give the Lady Tigers a 7-5 lead. Gough netted three points including two aces for a five-point lead. SHS appeared to be in control leading 12-7 when Dolan collected four straight points with Crippin getting a kill and Gambrell recording a block.

SSA’s Wurm got a kill and Monique Giarrusso tallied two points to trim the lead to 17-11. Hayward notched a kill and a block on two service points by Crippin for what appeared to be a commanding nine-point lead.

Crippin, a senior, felt her club played hard, but made too many mistakes.

“SSA is a very good team, and they have a lot of good passers. It’s a terrible feeling walking off the court for the last time,” Crippin said.

SSA cut the lead to 22-16 on a Harrison kill. Walther stepped up and ripped off eight straight to give the Doves a 24-22 lead ending Slidell’s momentum. SHS’ Dolan came up with a kill, but the Lady Tigers eventually fell on an unforced error losing game three 25-23.

Walther said her team lost a little focus early in game three, but they were able to fight back. “We made a run when we needed it to get back in the game,” Walther said.

She talked about her run of eight serves. “I missed an earlier serve, and I didn’t want to miss it again, so I refocused.”

Coach Davis said he wasn’t too happy when she served the ball into the net. “I told her about that. She made a correction, adjusting to how she contacted the ball. She finished the game strong with her serving, which was a great way to build her confidence heading into the second round of the playoffs,” Davis added.

Slidell coach Nancy Plaisance, who played without junior setter Courtney Courtney and freshman setter Nicole Priest, said her club blew a big lead.

“That should have never ever happened,” Plaisance said. “You have to give SSA credit. They kept the ball alive, and we made a lot of unforced errors. We didn’t pass the ball well, and you can’t do that against a team that gets everything back. It’s like playing a game of ping pong with the back up,” Plaisance added.