With several starters from last season’s state quarterfinalist departed to graduation, Hahnville remained determined to defend its district championship for a fourth consecutive season.
The Tigers took to their home court Tuesday night with a chance to cement just that – in their way was archrival Destrehan, but Hahnville was more than up to the challenge. HHS earned a sweep in three sets, 25-17, 25-13 and 25-18 to move to 4-0 in District 7-I play and clinching the district crown.
Maci Hollingsworth led the way for Hahnville (15-21, 4-0) with 17 kills and eight digs, while Jada Moore made nine kills and four blocks. Abigail Hotard had five kills and two aces, and Cambri Garcia served three aces.
“This win meant a lot to us,” said Moore. “We came out here and knew, they’re gonna come out hard. They’re not going to play against anyone else like they play against us, because we’re their rivals. We said ‘everyone play our game, keep our energy up.’ And that’s what we did.”
Hollingsworth echoed Moore – the team acknowledged this was a big match, but understood the importance of not making it too big.
“We had our pregame huddle and focused on – this is like any other game. This is our rival, but we have to focus on doing what we know how to do and go get the job done,” said Hollingsworth.
For Destrehan, Remi Foster made 13 assists. Harmony Howard made nine kills and four digs. Vivien Brouillette made seven digs and four kills. Jacee Pate made five blocks.
Hahnville head coach Mendi LeBoeuf said she felt like the Tigers had a bit of rivalry nervousness early in the match but that they righted the ship from there.
“I don’t know if we’ve missed that many serves in a set this whole year,” LeBoeuf said of the first set. “I thought we recovered from that well. We have two returning starters, but for the rest of the group, this was their first (start against Destrehan). I thought we settled down and got in a better groove.”
Moore said winning district was a huge goal.
“Considering we lost so many seniors from last year, we sat here and we talked about it. We’re going to be district champs again. We are Hahnville High School and we will show everybody that,” Moore said.
Said Hollingsworth, “A lot of people doubted us … we lost a lot of players from last year, but we put together the pieces we had and built ourselves up (to win district again).”
LeBoeuf said she was very happy and proud for a group of players who set out from day one to win district.
“I’m so excited for these kids. We’ve really committed to playing a very tough schedule – a lot of top 5, top 10 teams all year long,” LeBoeuf said. “Our kids have been resilience. So for them to be able to achieve this goal late, that hard work paying off, I’m super excited for them.”
Hahnville jumped out early in the first game, taking a 14-7 lead after a Hotard spike followed by a Garcia ace.
Destrehan (9-19, 2-2) cut the lead to five at 17-12 on a Howard kill, but Hollingsworth answered with one of her own.
Two more Garcia aces got Hahnville to game point and a return error sealed the first set for HHS.
Hahnville surged out again in the second set, going up 10-3 on a Hollingsworth kill. Destrehan cut it to 14-7 on a Brouillette kill. But the Tigers got loose on a 5-0 run from there to make it 19-8, the run capped by a Moore kill. Destrehan staved off the loss late behind two Howard kills, but ultimately Hahnville finished via a winner from Hollingsworth.
In the third game, Hahnville had its best start of the night, with a Hotard ace putting her team ahead 11-1. Destrehan fought back to cut the lead to 12-6, aided by an Honesty Miller block and another Howard kill. Hahnville held Destrehan at bay, though. Moore made it 19-13 with a kill. Pate kept DHS alive on a tip for a point at 21-15. But Hollingsworth swung away for scores to push HHS late and the Tigers finished things off at 25-18.
“I think we really served well in the third set, and that really allows us to play a little more free. We don’t have to be as conservative offensively because we’ve got our serve going,” LeBoeuf said.
The game brought an intriguing matchup at the net, as both teams featured talented hitters among their team’s most experienced players.
“(Destrehan) blocks well and they have several good offensive players. I think we do the same,” LeBoeuf said. “It was a good matchup between Jada and their middles as it relates to their athleticism and blocking. I think we did a good job using some variety and moving the ball around between the outside and middle.”
