Volleyball bi-district playoffs center stage

Fontainebleau’s Lady Bulldogs (31-6), the District 5-I champs (14-0), host Thibodaux at the Kennel tomorrow night at 6. FHS, the No. 5 seed, squares off with the No. 28 seeded Lady Tigers.

FHS’ Danny Tullis’ club is led by senior outside hitter Lindsey Barron with 418 kills. Barron also has 210 digs and 30 blocks. Taylor Anderson has notched 205 assists and 154 kills. Jessica Guttierrez has 142 kills with 204 digs. Amanda Schneck and Haley Bonnavel have 127 kills each. Caitlyn Auxilien leads the Lady Dawgs with 313 digs, while setter Michelle Cabeceiras has netted 432 assists, while McCrea Barney has 281 assists.

In other Class 5-A playoff action, Mandeville (27-10), the 11th seed, travels to Destrehan tomorrow to take on the 22nd seeded Lady Wildcats.

Freshman hitter Katie Lindelow and senior setter Elizabeth Rinaudo lead the Lady Skippers in district play.

Lindelow has knocked down 121 kills, 78 blocks, 36 aces, 21 blocks and 10 assists. Rinaudo has 132 assists, 96 digs, 71 kills and 30 aces. Senior Kana Koenig is the MHS libero. Mel Gaines, Nichole Freeman and Kelsey Sparks give MHS power at the net. MHS coach Christy Sanantonio said her club is focused at the task at hand. “We want to play with energy.”

In Class 2-A, Pope John Paul II’s Lady Jaguars travel to Episcopal of Baton Rouge tomorrow to take on the Lady Knights in the bi-district round, scheduled to begin at 5:30.

PJP, the 13th seed went 4-18 this year and 0-8 in district. Episcopal is the third seed.

The teams played twice this year in district this year with Episcopal winning both matches. Lady Jaguar coach Lonna Winslow talked about the upcoming contest.

“We’ve played them twice already. The first two times, we were down our setter (Michelle Pontiff). Now she’s back, so hopefully we’ll play them closer,” Winslow said.

Senior libero Brandy Monnin and junior Paige Bourquard lead the Lady Jags. Monnin had 204 digs during the season.

Class 1-A playoff action features Northlake Christian School (26-12), the district champs with a 10-0 mark, opening up defense of their Division V state championship. The Lady Wolverines enter this year’s playoffs as a No. 3 seed, hosting Ascension Christian, a No. 14 seed, tomorrow at 6 p.m.

NCS fell to Dominican Thursday, 25-20, 19-25, 17-25, 23-25), at Dominican in a tune up match heading into the bi-district round of the playoffs.

NCS’ Monica Raymond pulled up 22 digs, 12 kills and two blocks, but it wasn’t enough against the talented Class 5-A Dominican squad.

Brittany Scearce tallied 16 kills and five blocks for the Lady Wolverines. Hannah Miranda finished with 22 assists, five kills and two blocks.

Mary Wilson 12 chipped in with 12 assists.

Another local club, competing in Class 1A, is the Archbishop Hannan. The Lady Hawks travel to Houma Christian to battle the Lady Warriors tomorrow at 5 p.m. Hannan (9-14), second in district with an 8-2 record, is the No. 12 seed, while Houma Christian is seeded fifth.

Senior Katie Bailey, the team’s only senior, tops Hannan with 172 kills. Junior setter Kimberly Kirsch has 221 assists, while Emily Lee leads the Lady Hawks in digs.