By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

KENNER — Midway through the second game of Lutcher’s quarterfinal Division II playoff match with second-seeded St. Martinville, it seemed the Bulldogs might be primed to pull off one of the state volleyball tournament’s first shockers.

But despite trailing 1-0 in the match and 16-8 in the second game, the Tigers regrouped to take control of the rest of the afternoon, advancing on the back of a 15-25, 27-25, 25-18 and 25-14.

“Taking nothing away from St. Martinville … we just made way to many mistakes,” said Lutcher coach Ricky LeBlanc. “And we started doubting ourselves.”

Chanelle Gardner led St. Martinville (31-11) in kills with 21, while teammate Alanna Allen added 10. Gardner also had six blocks. Ashlee Jeanminette served five aces, Allen had 20 assists and Kelsey Cormier racked up 21 digs.

For Lutcher (26-10), Jariel Tureaud  had 11 kills (and three blocks), while Jaci Gravois added eight. Courtney Michel and Tamryn Louque each had three aces. Louque had 13 assists while Courtney St. Pierre had 12, and Avarie Louque had 23 digs.

After controlling the first game throughout, an inspired Bulldogs team charged out of the gates in the second game to take a 10-3 lead. A Gravois kill made it 13-5. Tureaud spiked another point home to make it 14-6, then Michel lofted a ball into a dead spot within the Tiger defense to make it a 16-8 advantage.

“We knew (St. Martinville) has a tendency to (start slow). They don’t always start well, but they always come back,” said LeBlanc.

But St. Martinville stormed back; a pair of kills by Gardner helped fuel a 5-0 run that made it 16-12; after a Lutcher point, another Gardner kill kickstarted a 4-0 run to make it 17-16.

Lutcher rattled off two more points, including a kill by Gravois, but Cormier followed suit with a kill of her own.

Lutcher led 21-18 after a Tamryn Louque ace, 22-19 and then 23-20 following another Gravois kill. St. Martinville scored three in a row to tie things up. Tureaud spiked one home to move Lutcher to game-point, but Gardner answered. Tureaud slammed one down again to give LHS another shot at it; but St. Martinville tied it on a double-hit violation, went ahead on a return that sailed out, and notched the victory on a spike by Cormier.

St. Martinville led 11-9 in the third game before beginning to assert its control. After breaking Lutcher’s serve, the Tigers rung up eight straight points with Jeanminette on the serving line to take a 20-9 advantage. Though Lutcher surged to close within six, the Tigers cemented the win on a Allen kill.

The fourth and final game went in similar fashion. St. Martinville led 9-6 before scoring 10 straight to go up 20-9, all but sealing things.

“We got off to a very slow start, but then we started to come together and play off of one another,” said St. Martinville coach Lucinda Mason. “Once we did that, we made our move.”

Lutcher took control of the first game after a 4-0 run made it 16-12 – that run included an ace and kill by Tureaud. A Michel ace capped a 5-0 run that made it 21-11; Louque served an ace then logged a kill for the 24th and 25th points.

“Lutcher definitely  came here ready to play,” said Mason. “This was my first time seeing them, and they were impressive. They came on the court expecting to win.”