After securing its second district championship in three seasons and earning a first round sweep of visiting Sulphur, Hahnville saw its season end at the hands of a tough fifth-seeded Mandeville squad in round two, 25-17, 25-16 and 25-19.
Mandeville advanced to the state volleyball tournament with the win, where it will match up with No. 4 St. Joseph’s Academy in the Division I quarterfinals.
“(Mandeville) did a great job putting up a big block … they’re relatively large which presents a lot of issues,” Hahnville coach Mendi LeBoeuf said. “I thought we competed hard but on that day they were just better than us.”
This was a season for Hahnville (27-15) that saw a group of almost entirely underclassmen make a leap forward from last year. All but one starter (Kallie Landry) will return next year, which should create an exciting aura around the team’s prospects in 2019.
“Most of them will play again in the spring and I’m excited to see how they improve,” LeBoeuf said. “We’ve definitely grown this year and that comes down to the hard work they’ve put in. They really bought in, and them doing that work not only in the regular season, but outside of that, is what our improvements really come down to.”
The Mandeville match, though a loss, should only serve to help in the long run, LeBoeuf said.
“If you’re not a top 8 seed and you want to get to the state volleyball tournament, then you have to beat a top 8 seed along the way,” LeBoeuf said. “It’s all part of the growth process, adjusting your game to your opponent. I think we learned from this.”
HAHNVILLE SWEEPS SULPHUR IN ROUND ONE: For the third straight season, Hahnville earned a victory in the first round of the Division I playoffs.
The Lady Tigers controlled the action for the majority of last Thursday night’s opening round sweep of visiting Sulphur by scores of 25-21, 25-13 and 25-12.
“One of our goals was to get further into the playoffs this year,” said junior setter Bailey Roux, who was among the Tigers who started in last season’s first round playoff road upset of Ruston. “We’ve got a lot of confidence and we all motivate one another.”
Roux made 37 assists and five digs to help lead Hahnville (27-14), with Brianna Plaisance leading the hitters she distributed to with 15 kills. Other standouts at the net were Reagan Young (nine kills and two aces), Yelah Moses (eight kills) and Chelsea Plaisance (seven kills, six digs). Kristen Crutti had 11 digs and Kallie Landry added seven to pace the Tigers’ defense.
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