State volleyball playoffs begin today

The volleyball state playoffs take center court today and tomorrow as 10 local teams begin their postseason runs with three squads Fontainebleau, Mandeville and Northlake Christian School receiving byes out of the bi-district round.

Five Division I schools, Fontainebleau, Mandeville, St. Scholastica Academy, Slidell and Covington made the 24-team playoff field.

Fontainebleau’s Lady Bulldogs (41-2), the District 4-I champion (12-0) and a 2008 state runner-up, earned the No. 3 seed. FHS takes on the winner of 14th seeded St. Amant and No. 19 Sulphur.

Sixth-seeded Mandeville (24-9), which tied for second in district with the SSA Doves at 9-3 behind FHS, also drew a first-round bye. The Lady Skippers will host the winner of the Covington-Lafayette match. CHS (9-13) travels to Lafayette to face the Lady Mighty Lions tomorrow afternoon at 4:30.

CHS coach Debbie Adams said she is proud of the way her team played late in the season.

“Our players are excited about the opportunity of competing in the playoffs. I think it is a tribute to how the team has played close matches down the stretch. I have been told Lafayette is a hard, tough serving team,” Adams said

“We play in a very tough district so we have seen some strong serving teams. We hope they have some weaknesses we can exploit,” Adams added.

Adams said it would be up to her club to produce good passes primarily from the Stewart twins, Hallie and Holly, so the Lady Lions can get into their offense led by junior hitters Rachel Smith and Katie Robbins with the setting handled by sophomore Caroline Smith.

SSA (23-15) enters this year’s playoffs as a No. 19 seed. The Doves host the No. 23 seed Zachary Lady Broncos (13-19) tomorrow night at 6:30.

Doves’ head coach Danny Davis said he doesn’t know much about his Zachary opponent.

“I’m not the type of coach that likes to call other coaches or people to just get information about other schools. We will be prepared and play our game. I like to focus on our team and our capability,” Davis said.

“Our team has fought adversity all season long. I am very pleased with the team’s performance to have finished tied with Mandeville in a very tough district won by Fontainebleau,” Davis added.

Slidell’s Lady Tigers (18-14, 4-8) enter the playoffs as a 13th seed and travel to No. 20 Denham Springs to face the Lady Jackets tomorrow at 5 p.m.

Lady Tigers’ coach Nancy Plaisance said it should be a good one.

“We played Denham Springs in the championship of their tournament and beat them (20-25, 25-17, 15-8) in three,” Plaisance said. “It was a close match with everybody healthy. In my mind, the other kids have been here long enough to where there should be no drop-off. It was close then and it could be close now. I expect a good match.”

The teams played the best two-of-three in the Denham Springs High School Invitational Tournament.

Slidell’s had two injuries, both occurring near the start of the second-round of district. Junior libero Breanne Rainey is out for the year with three-fractured vertebra. Freshman Alexis Bouchereau takes her place. Also senior setter Courtney Courtney is sidelined with a shoulder and knee injury. Freshman Sierra Ducre replaces her.

Switching to Division II, just one local team is in with Pearl River (22-5, 8-2) getting a No. 13 seed. The Lady Rebels host No. 20 seed Leesville tomorrow at 5 p.m.

Pearl River finished runner-up in its district. Both league losses were to district champion Chalmette.

The winner competes against defending Division II state champion Cabrini.

In Division IV, NCS and Pope John Paul II earned postseason berths.

Northlake Christian (26-10), which captured the Division V state title for the past two seasons, attempts to do the same in Division IV after moving up in class this season as a No. 2 seed. NCS won its district this season with a 4-0 mark.

The Lady Wolverines entertain the winner of 15th seeded Thomas Jefferson and No. 18 Westminster Christian in the regional round Monday at 6 p.m.

Pope John Paul II (11-17, 0-4) is hosting Haynes Academy out of Metairie. The two met last Thursday with the Lady Jaguars getting a 25-16, 25-18, 25-21 sweep. The victorious squad heads to Newman for the regional round.

In Division V, Archbishop Hannan and First Baptist Christian School are both at home.

Hannan, the 10th seed, hosts No. 23 Patrick F. Taylor (9-12) tomorrow at 6 p.m. The advancing school gets No. 7 Ecole Classique.

Hannan’s Lady Hawks (13-12) won its district with an unblemished 6-0 record.

Lady Hawks’ coach Jennifer Pujol’s team swept Patrick Taylor back on September 3 in an early season match up at home.

“We played them at the beginning of the season and our familiarity with them will benefit us going into the first round. We are a more confident team overall in our ability and are playing consistent volleyball,” Pujol said.

“Our team has stepped upped its level of play and I am very proud of their accomplishments,” Pujol added.

Also, 14th seeded First Baptist (13-7, 2-4) welcomes in No. 19 Bethel Christian with action set for 6:30 p.m. tomorrow.