MICHAEL KIRAL / L’Observateur / November 8, 1999

LAPLACE – The State Farm/LHSAA State Volleyball Tournament will have some new as well as old faces from the local scene when it opens this week at the Ponchartrain Center in Kenner.

Play opens in Divisions I, II and IV Wednesday and Divisions III and V Thursday and concludes with the finals on Saturday. Admission is $6 perperson per day.

The new face in the tournament from the River Parishes will be the Destrehan Lady Cats. Destrehan (17-11, 4-0) captured its first District 9-I title last Tuesday with a 11-15, 15-9, 15-12 victory at home over Hahnville. This will be the Lady Cats’ first trip to the state tournamentthis decade.

“We had a better group of girls this year, more talented,” Destrehan coach Calvin Ike said. “People came in and we were able to develop them. We hadsome very good players in some key positions and they did their job well.

And the camaraderie was better than in previous years.”Destrehan will open the tournament at 12:45 p.m. Wednesday againstDistrict 8-I runner-up South Terrebonne.

Also coming out of District 9-I is Hahnville. The Lady Tigers defeated EastSt. John, 15-3, 15-9, Wednesday to clinch second place in the district.Hahnville will play the District 13-I runner-up at 9 a.m. Wednesday.This is the fifth straight year Hahnville has advanced to the tournament.

The Lady Tigers defeated Abramson in the bi-district round last year for the team’s first ever tournament win before falling to Thibodaux in the regionals.

Riverside will be making its third straight trip to the state tournament but its first as a district champion. The Lady Rebels wrapped up theDistrict 6-IV title with a 15-7, 7-15, 15-5 victory over Ridgewood last Thursday. Riverside defeated West St. John, 15-1, 15-0, Tuesday toimprove to 13-14 overall and 4-0 in district play.

As district champions, the Lady Rebels will play District 4-IV runner-up Episcopal (B.R.) Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. Last season, Riverside defeatedTeurlings in bi-district, the team’s first postseason win, before falling to Episcopal in the quarterfinals.

“It’s much nicer going in as the No. 1 spot,” Riverside coach Gina Centannisaid. “We started to jell right at district time. We started playing as ateam and have been and that’s very important.” The team that advanced the furthest last season, St. Charles Catholic, willbe looking to make its third straight trip to the semifinals. The LadyComets (23-8, 6-0) clinched their third consecutive district title with a 15-4, 15-7 victory over St. James combined with E.D. White’s loss toLutcher Tuesday. St. Charles Catholic went on to defeat E.D. White, 15-7,6-15, 15-12 Thursday.

St. Charles Catholic, as the District 6-III champions, will face theDistrict 1-III runner-up Thursday at 12:45 p.m. The Lady Comets defeatedSacred Heart (Grand Coteau) and St. Thomas Aquinas before falling toeventual state champion Newman in the Division IV playoffs last year.

Reserve Christian, which an appearance in the state playoffs last year in its first season in the LHSAA, will make a return trip to the tournament this season. The Lady Eagles (13-14, 0-2) fell to Faith Christian, 15-13,15-9, Thursday afternoon and will head into the tournament as the second place team out of District 8-V.

Reserve Christian will play District 4-I champion Hosanna Thursday at 10:15 a.m. The Lady Eagles defeated Hosanna Tuesday in non-district play.”We still have the opportunity to accomplish one of our goals for the season and that is to win the first playoff game in the LHSAA in school history,” Reserve Christian coach Mike Marix said.

“The draw looks good. My job as coach is to make sure we are ready toplay. With our draw and our experience, I’m hoping that it will help us.”Lutcher, behind its 15-5, 15-11 victory over St. James and E.D. White’sloss to St. Charles Catholic Thursday, tied the Lady Cardinals for secondplace in District 6-III.

The Lady Bulldogs (17-10, 3-3) and Lady Cardinals (20-14, 3-3) will play the tie-breaker today at 1 p.m. at St. James High School. The winner will play the District 1-III champion Thursday at 2 p.m.

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