MICHAEL KIRAL / L’Observateur / November 8, 1999

LUTCHER – On the brink of being eliminated from the state volleyball tournament, Lutcher rallied in both games to upset fifth-ranked E.D. White,15-13, 15-12, Tuesday afternoon in the Lutcher gym.

Lutcher defeated St. James, 15-5, 15-11, Thursday afternoon. With E.D.White’s 7-15, 15-6, 12-15 loss to St. Charles Catholic Thursday, the LadyBulldogs and Lady Cardinals tied for second place in the district. Theteams will play the tiebreaker today at 1 p.m. at St. James High School.Lutcher heads into the playoff at 17-10 overall and 3-3 in District 6-III while E.D. White is 20-14 overall and 3-3 in district.E.D. White, needing a victory to set up a battle for first place with St.Charles Catholic Thursday, jumped out to a 2-1 lead in the first game on a kill by Sarah Picou. Lutcher came back two serves later to take a 3-2advantage behind a block by Keondra Robertson and a Lady Cardinal error.

E.D. White regained the lead as Jessica Angelette served two aces andKristi Breaux delivered a kill to make it 5-3. Kassie Waguespack helpedthe Lady Bulldogs tie the game at 6, delivering a kill and the blocking two shots on the next rally.

E.D. White appeared to be pulling away, taking a 10-6 lead on an ace byDana Waguespack, a kill and a dink by Picou and a spike by Carolyn Cavell.

But the Lady Bulldogs again fought back, tying the score at 10 on three E.D.White errors and a spike by Breeze Vicknair.

E.D. White went on to take a 13-12 lead on a substitution error by the LadyBulldogs. But Lutcher bounced right back as Robertson regained the servewith a kill and the Lady Bulldogs took advantage of two Lady Cardinal errors and a wide return for the victory.

Lutcher kept it up in the second game, jumping on top 5-1 on a dink by Vicknair. E.D. White came back on its next serve as Julie Robichaux servedtwo aces and delivered a kill to give the Lady Cardinals a 6-5 lead. Itwould be a short-lived advantage as Toni Riley dinked a shot off the net to break the serve and came back with another dink to tie the score at 6.

Vicknair followed with an ace to give the Lady Bulldogs a 7-6 lead.

E.D. White came back to take a 10-7 advantage behind a dink by Picou and akill by Waguespack. Robertson got the serve back with a kill with TiffanyGriffin answering with an ace. Robertson followed with a kill and a dinkwith an error by the Lady Cardinals giving the Lady Bulldogs a 11-10 lead.

After E.D. White tied the game on a kill by Breaux, a block by Waguespackhelped the Lady Bulldogs take a 13-11 lead. An ace by Cavell cut thedeficit to one but Waguespack answered with another block with Candace Keller serving to bring the Lady Bulldogs to match point. A lift by the LadyCardinals gave the Lady Bulldogs the match winner.

“We came out fired up,” Lutcher coach Denise Riley said. “E.D. Whiteserves very well and we worked on our serve-receive. We worked ongetting the killer instinct and getting the ball down. Number 2 (Robertson)came through for us. I told our setters to get the ball to her and she didthe job for us. We are down to the nail and I’m proud of the girls for notgiving up.”Robertson finished with seven kills. Griffin and Vicknair had one aceapiece while Riley had a team-high eight digs.

Picou led the Lady Cardinals with nine kills and five digs. Cavell had fourkills, eight digs and eight assists. Angelette added two aces and sevendigs while Amanda Ray contributed six digs and 13 assists.

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